Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla launch anti-cyberbullying campaign

Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo. INQUIRER.net file photo

More than fighting off evil vampires in their top-rating Kapamilya fantaserye “La Luna Sangre”, young stars Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla have vowed to battle cyberbullies in real life.

The two have been officially chosen as ambassadors of Cybersmile Foundation, an international non-profit organization committed to the fight against cyberbullying.

Kicking off their campaign, Padilla and Bernardo conducted simultaneous events dubbed as “Give Blood. Fight Cyberbullying” last Nov. 5 at the PRC Headquarters across 18 other PRC blood centers nationwide.

This cause was made possible with the help of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and their fan base KDKN (Kathryn Daniel and KathNiel) Solidarity Community, Inc., along with volunteer-individuals and other fan group supporters. 

The event was held to gather as many blood donors as possible, as well as promote “La Luna Sangre” during the Halloween season. Blood donors were encouraged to wear costumes of their favorite “La Luna Sangre” characters.

As the launch of the anti-cyberbullying campaign of KathNiel was also done, Bernardo talked about the negative effects of cyberbullying. 

“Dumating ako sa point na nagkulong ako sa kwarto at hindi ako kumakausap ng tao at sobrang na-depress ako… Sana mas maging aware ang mga tao na seryoso ang bagay na ito,” Bernardo said. (I came to a point where I just locked myself in my room, I didn’t talk to anyone, and I was so depressed. I hope people would be more aware of how serious this matter is.)

Knowing that anyone could be a victim of cyberbullying, she used her personal experience as her principal motivation to engage in this advocacy. “Na-experience naming kung paano ito kasakit at ayaw na naming lumala pa ito at ma-experience pa ng maraming tao, lalo na ng mga kabataan.”  (We have experienced how this hurts; we don’t want this to get worse and be experienced by others, more so by the youth.)

According to Padilla, their advocacy along with DICT is set to come up with a “sapat na pangil” (ample teeth) against cyberbullies.

“Hindi sila pwedeng nanggaganon lang ng tao na hindi nila kilala. Hindi pwedeng nang-aapi lang sila ng tao out of nowhere,” he added. (They cannot just do [cyberbullying] that to people they don’t know. They cannot put down people just like that.) JB

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