YOUR social media funny man is now everyone’s favorite spooky storyteller. 

Millennial content producer Lester Babiera amused many when he appeared in a 2011 ABS-CBN interview  and was identified as “Mahilig mag Facebook.” 

It quickly became a meme, earning Babiera his fair share of internet fame.

Later, he would also appear in several more interviews as a “saksi” and as a “cycling advocate,” amusing netizens yet again. 

Now, he has gone viral again for a new reason. He is fast gaining traction on TikTok, where he has been sharing horror stories on his account https://www.tiktok.com/@bujibabiera.

In just two months, the number of his TikTok followers grew to more than 406,000, while many of his spooky stories have been gaining hundreds of thousands and even millions of views.

One of his stories, about elevator ghosts, has reached 12.7 million views.

How did he start on Tiktok? 

Unlike some social media personalities who wait months before getting a significant following, it only took Babiera two months to make a TikTok explosion. 

He first started making content about biking, and then travel and food reviews. 

His first video to hit 1 million views was a story about a cyclist who got into an accident because there was no protected bike lane. It was horror-themed, and it was a hit. 

Horror story ‘yun. Hindi ko tinulungan noong may nag-tawag ng ambulansya tapos nagparamdam sa akin ulit after three years. Pero work of fiction ‘yun. After noon, nag-comment yung mga tao na ‘more horror stories,’ kaya nag-upload na ako ng mga horror stories — yung iba true stories, yung iba kwento ko lang, at yung iba ay kathang isip lang,” 

Lester Babiera

Tiktok’s ‘mahilig manakot’ guy

While he may be TikTok’s trusty horror storyteller,  Babiera shared that he isn’t exactly a fan of horror movies simply because he gets scared easily. 

But he has been telling scary stories because when he started sharing spooky content, the number of his followers and views grew by leaps and bounds.  

Siguro sinwerte lang din ako na ang bilis lumaki ng following ko. Meron na akong 400,000 followers ngayon and as of now, umaabot pa rin ng six digits to millions yung views ng mga uploads ko. May mga nakakakilala na rin sa akin sa daan, hindi lang sa Metro Manila, kaya nakakatuwa rin kahit papaano,”

Lester Babiera

He attributes the exponential growth to his horror story about the elevator, because after this post, he woke up with an additional 100,000 followers. The number has been growing ever since and his follower count, as of posting, stands at 406,000.  

@bujibabiera

Wag kayo magbibiro sa elevator. Kwinento lang ito sa akin. #fyp #fypシ #horrortok #horrorstoryph #storytime #manilaencounters #storytimeph #ghoststoriesph

♬ Halloween, horror, spooky cinematic background music(852258) – domino

Storytelling style

In his TikTok videos, Babiera usually shares his stories while walking on the streets. The ghost stories he tells take place in various locations and involve different elements. 

His followers have been lapping these up. A commenter even said that among the horror stuff he has watched, Babiera had the most hair-raising narration. 

Get to know Lester 

Babiera has a lot of passions aside from telling horror stories.

Before becoming a TikTok content producer, he was known as a cycling advocate. He is the founder of the First Bike Ride, a community of cyclists who encourage everyone to go out and ride their bikes.  

First Bike Ride has also been gaining traction as a go-to platform for biking news and other updates. Being a writer himself, Babiera produces articles for the website where he talks about his various experiences, the people he meets, the places he discovers and his awesome finds while exploring the world on two wheels. 

He was also among the hundreds of bikers who protested to retain bike lanes along Ayala Avenue in Makati City after these were threatened to be converted into shared lanes or “sharrows.” 

‘Mahilig mag Facebook’ and various names 

Babiera knows how to handle being viral as he had experienced it in the past. 

He amused many with his tags in the TV interviews he had appeared in. 

It all started in 2011 when he was interviewed as a student who spent a lot of time on social media. Many found his description on the screen hilarious: Mahilig mag Facebook. 

In the second interview, he was simply tagged “saksi, and in third, as a “cycling advocate. ”His most recent tag was “Bantay Bike Lane Movement.”

His various interviews and tags on TV did not escape netizens’ attention, and they made him internet famous.  

Babiera himself poked fun at his various descriptions, but the messages he conveyed in each interview were no laughing matter. 

Influencing as a career

Because of the good things happening to him as an influencer, Babiera is considering making it a career.

But he also said that more than the fame and the perks that may come with it, he simply loves to tell stories and use his now amplified voice to hopefully and eventually make a difference. 

“Ever since, gusto ko lang talaga magkwento at gusto ko pa lumaki yung platforms ko sa pagke-kwento,” he said.

Open ako sa lahat ng opportunities na makapag-kwento — kahit sa labas ng social media — at sana magamit ko yung boses ko para makatulong sa ibang tao,” 

Lester Babiera