Iloilo Vlogger Sets Himself on Fire for Views

By Jennifer P. Rendon

How far would you go to gain popularity?

For a man from Calinog, Iloilo, risking his life was worth it for social media fame.

In a video uploaded on Sunday, the man can be seen holding two cut-up plastic bottles filled with gasoline.

Before drinking the gasoline, the vlogger, who called himself “Boy Tapang ng Calinog,” warned children not to imitate him, saying it was only for content creation.

After emptying one bottle by drinking, he poured the other bottle of gasoline over his body.

The video then shows him touching a lighted tree branch held by another person, who was not visible on camera.

It appeared that he fell into a shallow hole while engulfed in flames.

The video lasted 44 seconds.

A day after it was uploaded, it had garnered 1,300 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 167,000 shares.

The post included hashtags such as #immortal, #guidance, #entertainmentreels, #viralvideo, and #KMJSJessicaSoho.

Another video, uploaded early Monday morning, showed the vlogger’s burnt body.

The caption read:

“Sa mga followers ko, please tulongan ninyo po ako. Kahit konting tulong mga idol. Pagaling idol ninyo, support ing sa idol ninyo. ‘Pag galing ko, babalik naman ‘yong idol ninyo.”

Meanwhile, Major Myles Dieron, Calinog police chief, said they are still investigating the incident.

He added that no formal report about the stunt had been filed with the police.