THE TARGET of homophobic comments in a livestream, Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna has broken his silence about the incident.
After thanking everyone who spoke out against the discriminatory and harassing comments made by Duane “Kelra” Pillas, the Blacklist International stalwart wrote, “I believe that this issue should be addressed correspondingly because this is one of the reasons why I am here for – Equality and Respect for all.”
In his most recent post, V33nus continued: “I hope this serves as a lesson for everyone dahil hindi lang naman ang bansa natin ang naapektuhan, kundi pati na rin sa iba.” He is likely referring to Thai player Chareeny “Ramellabah” Ramella, who announced a temporary leave of absence from pro esports after Kelra’s comments about her surfaced.
“Gusto ko lang ipaalala sa inyo na hindi kailanman naging maganda ang pambabastos at never itong naging katawa-tawa. Sabi nga nila, ‘Words matter’, kaya ayaw kong sumagot sa issue na ito na alam kong hindi magkakaroon ng magandang epekto,” said Villaluna.
For the statements Kelra made in the video, the MPL-PH has sanctioned the player with a fine, as well as a two-week suspension.
Not the first OhMyV33nus has faced harassment
This is not the first time this year that homophobic statements against OhMyV33nus have made the headlines. At the midpoint of Season 7, fan comments during a Blacklist International match also led the team captain to speak out, and encouraged a wave of support from esports personalities and organizations.
OhMyV33nus’ team, Blacklist International, also earlier released its own statement regarding the Kelra incident.
“We will continue to stand behind our players and will assist them through any plan of action they wish to pursue,” it said.
It added, “What happened was disappointing, but we do acknowledge that this goes beyond this issue alone. Words are not just words—they matter. Words affect people regardless of gender preference or sexual orientation.”
Both Blacklist International and OhMyV33nus called on everyone to always ponder carefully on their words.
Yesterday, Kelra’s father Rex Pillas also asked for understanding from the community for his son and family.
“Kami po ng aming buong pamilya ay humihingi ng sorry at paumanhin sa nagawa ng aking anak,” he wrote in a Facebook group, as reported by Tiebreaker Times’ Jonash Dannug.
“Nakahanda naman kami kung ano ‘man ang desisyon ng MPL, pero sana ‘wag na natin gatungan.”
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