Sass Rogando Sasot

Sass Rogando Sasot
OccupationsActivist, blogger
Known forCo-founder of Society of Trans Women of the Philippines (STRAP), For the Motherland blog, disinformation

Sass Rogando Sasot is Filipino blogger and transgender rights activist who is a supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte and known for spreading disinformation.[1][2][3] She is also co-founder of the Society of Trans Women of the Philippines in 2002.

Trans activism

In October 2002, Sasot along with three other trans women established the transgender rights organization, Trans and Gender Rights Advocates of the Philippines (STRAP; now Society of Trans Women of the Philippines)[4]

Vlogging and column

Sasot is known for being a supporter of former president Rodrigo Duterte.[5][6][7] She is a blogger and posts political content on her Facebook page, For the Motherland.[8]

Sasot was also columnist for The Manila Times in 2017.[7]

Political stances

Sasot professed to have started supporting Duterte in 2016. She has disputed characterization of Duterte as "anti-LGBT" stating how she was surprised on how local LGBT organisations in Davao City were advanced as early as 2001.[5]

She also advocated for a less "antagonistic" approach in regards to Philippine foreign policy towards China.[5] Sasot has condmned the United States and the United Nations for allegedly taking a more hardlined stance on Duterte's war on drugs compared to the Mexican drug war claiming that the latter is more worse.[9]

Disinformation

Governance and foreign policy analyst Steven Feldstein notes how Sasot, along with RJ Nieto and Rigoberto Tiglao are part of the Philippines' network of digital repression.[10]: 153 

  • In the murder of the teenage student Kian delos Santos during Duterte's drug war, where a gun was planted on delos Santos by policemen, Sasot asserted that delos Santos used the gun in a firefight with the police, and that it was found on his left hand despite being right-handed because it could have slipped there. Delos Santos tested negative for gunpowder residue on both his hands.[11]
  • After Senator Risa Hontiveros mentioned reports that China's nuclear-capable bombers had landed in the South China Sea in 2018, Sasot accused Hontiveros of being stupid and being bakla ng taon (bakla of the year) because China has been a nuclear power since the 1950s, and that the Philippines has been in striking distance of China's nuclear weapons since then. China only developed nuclear weapons in the 1960s.[12]
  • In 2022, Sasot claimed that the Angat Buhay Foundation founded by Leni Robredo took sole credit for relief efforts in Ifugao after a landslide occurred. Angat Buhay actually recognized several groups that joined in the relief efforts, including the Philippine Army’s 54th Infantry Magilas Battalion, the Isabela-Quirino Development Council, and others.[13]
  • Sasot has accused of Cielo Magno for bribing legislators with billions to uncover the name "Mary Grace Piattos" for a House of Representatives inquiry on Vice President Sara Duterte's usage of confidential funds.[14] Magno filed a cyber libel complaint against Sasot over "malicious, demeaning, and defamatory imputations". Sasot had been harassing Magno for months on social media. Magno also stated that she and her family continued to suffer from anxiety, mental anguish, and sleepless nights over Sasot’s posts.[15]
  • Sasot alleged Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela has received money from House Speaker Martin Romualdez and a "talent fee" from the United States for defending the Philippine sovereignty claims in the South China Sea dispute. Sasot claimed that Tarriela received $4 million from the U.S. government, participated in a U.S. operation named "Project Atlantis", owned an expensive watch beyond his means, and accepted bags of money from Rep. Martin Romualdez. Tarriela filed a cyber libel case against her for the accusations.[17][18][19]
  • In 2023, PumaPodcast drew backlash from netizens for giving a "disinformation peddler", Sasot -- someone who "helped destroy...public spheres", a platform by guesting her on their podcast.[2]

RJ Nieto and Sasot were subject of a criminal complaint regarding the doxing of the identity of the blogger behind the Pinoy Ako Blog in 2017.[20][21] Jay Tarriela and Cielo Magno has also filed a cyber libel case against Sasot for her claims involving the two individuals.[17]

In April 2025, Sasot was cited by House of Representatives of the Philippines Tri-Committee for contempt for repeated refusal to attend its hearings on digital disinformation despite being subpoenaed.[22]

In July 2025, Senator Risa Hontiveros requested the National Bureau of Investigation to probe Sasot, Krizette Laureta Chu, Jay Sonza, Trixie Cruz Angeles, and Byron "Banat By" Cristobal for allegedly spreading a video of former senate probe witness Michael Maurillo who claimed that Hontiveros had given him 1 million pesos to falsely testify against Apollo Quiboloy.[23]

Personal life

Sasot is a transgender woman. Still presenting as a boy at the time, Sasot studied at a Roman Catholic boys' school where she had a boyfriend. Despite this, Sasot accounts that her lover sees her as a girl. At age 17, Sasot has put on the label "transsexual girl" to describe her gender identity. Sasot recounts on how her mother had a negative reception to her coming out. She attempted suicide in December 2000. She studied in the college department of the same boys' school for her tertiary studies.[24]

Sasot took up graduate studies at the Leiden University in the Netherlands.[5][25] She has been living in Beijing, China since 2023.[26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Macaraeg, Pauline (January 23, 2025). "How pro-China propaganda is seeded online in the Philippines". The Nerve.
  2. ^ a b Bolledo, Jairo (May 14, 2023). "'Should be deplatformed': PumaPodcast faces backlash for hosting disinformation peddler". Rappler.
  3. ^ Baizas, Gaby (January 4, 2024). "Blogger Sass Sasot's Facebook page temporarily disappears, returns days later". Rappler.
  4. ^ "STRAP: The Gender Advocates". Outrage. May 1, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  5. ^ a b c d "Duterte's surprise supporters - young, liberals". NZ Herald. April 18, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  6. ^ "Vera Files Fact Check: Pro-Duterte blogger makes multiple inaccurate claims on West Philippine Sea, arbitral ruling". Vera Files. April 28, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  7. ^ a b "Duterte supporter readies libel case vs Pinoy Ako Blog writer". The Philippine Star. October 16, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  8. ^ Baizas, Gaby (January 4, 2024). "Blogger Sass Sasot's Facebook page temporarily disappears, returns days later". Rappler. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  9. ^ "Ang Retorika ng Rehimeng Duterte at ang Kulturang Pilipino" [Rhetoric of the Duterte Regime and Philippine Culture] (PDF). Historical Bulletin (in Filipino). 51. The Philippine Historical Association: 85. January–December 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  10. ^ Feldstein, Steven (May 2021). The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190057497. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Bolando, AJ (August 23, 2017). "PNP: Kian tests negative for gunpowder residue". The Philippine Star.
  12. ^ "VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pro-Duterte blogger's claim about China nuclear history inaccurate". Vera Files. May 28, 2018.
  13. ^ "VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Vlogger makes FALSE claim that Angat Buhay grabbed credit for Ifugao relief efforts". Vera Files. July 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Laqui, Ian. "Economist Cielo Magno sues Sass Sasot for cyber libel". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  15. ^ Baizas, Gaby (March 25, 2025). "Ex-DOF official Cielo Magno files cyber libel complaint vs Sass Sasot". Rappler.
  16. ^ "VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pro-Duterte blogger makes multiple inaccurate claims on West Philippine Sea, arbitral ruling". Vera Files. April 28, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Gonzaga, Pie (July 7, 2025). "PCG Spox Tarriela Files P1M Cyber Libel Case vs. Sass Sasot". Rolling Stone Philippines. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  18. ^ Sarao, Zacarian (July 4, 2025). "WPS spox Tarriela files cyberlibel raps vs vlogger Sass Sasot". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  19. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole (July 4, 2025). "PCG's Tarriela sues Sass Sasot for cyber libel in P1.25-M suit". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  20. ^ Hallare, Katrina (November 13, 2017). "Pro-Duterte blogger confronts BBC reporter while Mocha watches". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  21. ^ Occeñola, Paige (March 13, 2018). "Pinoy Ako Blog files complaint vs Thinking Pinoy, Sass Sasot". Rappler. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  22. ^ Cervantes, Filane Mikee (April 8, 2025). "House panel cites Sasot, Badoy, Celiz in contempt over no-show". Philippine News Agency.
  23. ^ Laqui, Ian (July 2, 2025). "Hontiveros hits back, files libel raps vs Quiboloy witness, vloggers". The Philippine Star.
  24. ^ "Sass Rogando Sasot: Love Advocate". Outrage. October 1, 2009. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  25. ^ Mendoza, Ralph (March 25, 2025). "'It's time to push back!' UP prof, sinampahan si Sass Sasot ng cyber libel case". Balita. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  26. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole (April 8, 2025). "Badoy, Celiz, Sasot, Lopez ordered detained as House cites contempt". The Philippine Star. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
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