A painful loss.

That's how House Speaker Martin Romualdez described the passing of John Paul "JP" Pabalan, the BBM-Sara campaign youth leader who became the reason for the launch of the #StopTheHate movement on social media last year.

"Nakikiramay po tayo sa pamilya ni John Paul Pabalan, a 25-year-old leader ng BBM-Sara campaign sa Cavite, na namayapa kamakailan matapos ang pakikipagbuno sa matagal nang karamdaman (We send our condolences to the family of John Paul Pabalan, the 25-year-old leader of the BBM-Sara campaign in Cavite, who recently died after a long bout with an illness), Romualdez said in a statement.

"Masakit sa amin ang pagkawala ni JP. Malaki ang naiambag niya para mapag-usapan at matigil ang pinsala na dulot ng bullying at bashing sa social media. Maraming salamat, JP. Saludo kami sa iyo (JP's loss is painful to us. He contributed a lot to the public discourse and prevention of bullying and social media bashing. Thank you very much, JP. We salute you)," added the House leader.

Pabalan’s story gained the attention of social media during the last presidential campaign after he was bashed by supporters of rival candidates for supporting then-candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

The bashing prompted Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party to launch the #StopTheHate campaign in the social media as part of initiatives to discourage bullying between supporters of rival presidential candidates.

Romualdez is the president of Lakas-CMD. Pabalan will be laid to rest today, Friday, March 24.