Cacao Project founder on experience with Nas Daily: ‘We are not content to be exploited.’ Nas responds
In light of the controversies surrounding vlogger Nuseir Yassin, a.k.a. Nas Daily, and the Whang-Od Academy course, Cacao Project founder Louise De Guzman Mabulo opens up about her experience with the Palestinean-Israeli content creator.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Mabulo shared how Nas visited her town to cover her story on The Cacao Project.
"My family took him and other content creators in as welcome guests— with typical hospitality we are known for. However, in so little time, I was disappointed to learn that the man I’d looked up to for years was not the bearer of good news he’d misled his followers to believe he was," she wrote.
Mabulo says the vlogger mocked the local accent and called the people of their hometown "poor."
"He said no one wants to hear about farmers or farms, it’s not clickable viewable content," she continued. "He didn’t care about making change or shedding light on real issues—he only wanted content, a good, easy story to tell that would get him more Filipino views."
She said Nas did not thank her family for their hospitality, refusing to eat the food her mother spent the morning preparing. He also said they were only "wasting his time."
Continuing on to express her disappointment, Mabulo said she "should have known better."
"This man was exploitative and fueling a neocolonialist narrative using our need for foreign validation," she continued.
Mabulo decided to break her silence after news about Whang-Od Academy, which Nas recently insisted the 104-year-old tattoo artist gave him consent for.
"The fact that he refused to take down the course until Gracia took her post down is a clear sign of systematic silencing, and the hope that they want to continue their money-making from our culture," she remarked.
"His response to the issue illustrates a video of Apo Whang-Od signing a dubious contract— the same strategy colonizers used to mislead indigenous people to sell off their land, happening now action in the 21st century, except instead of land, it’s data and content and tradition being sold."
Mabulo ends her post by calling fellow Filipinos to stand together about the issue. "We are not content to be exploited. We are not culture to be capitalised. We are not people to be romanticized. Or poverty to set the scene for 'Benevolent Saviors.'"
Nas’ response
Nas Daily responds to Mabulo's post, claiming, "To my biggest sadness and surprise, your story was not true on the ground."
"Once we arrived at your plantation, once we saw the village and talked to the farmers, we came to the conclusion that there is no story here. That the awards on the Internet are just that...awards," he wrote on Nas Daily Tagalog.
Nas disputes that he did not thank the Mabulo family for their time and hospitality and that he even took photos with them.
