Father-faker? Solon hits ex-President Duterte for fake news
Former President Rodrigo Duterte (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has tagged former President Rodrigo Duterte a “father-faker” for his alleged insistence on using misinformation and disinformation to propel his Senate slate’s campaign.
In a press briefing on Monday, Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega (La Union, 1st District) said that he was inclined to believe Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin’s statements on Duterte being a “one-man fake news factory.”
Bersamin said this after Duterte claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was veering toward dictatorship.
“Parang talagang, parang literally factory ng fake news kumbaga, tapos ‘pag hinold sila accountable ng tao kakambyo naman sila na joke-joke lang daw ‘yon. Parang nagmumukha tuloy sila ang joke eh,” Ortega told reporters
“He really seems to be a factory of fake news, and when you hold him accountable, he will shift gears and say that it’s a joke. But he is the one appearing like a joke,” Ortega replied in Filipino to reporters at the Batasang Pambansa complex when asked about Bersamin’s statements.
Article continues after this advertisement“So I don’t know how we would call him. Father-faker? Father of fake news? Mother-faker? I don’t know if we can call it — father-faker, mother-faker. So what do you call the children, fakerist? But that’s how they appear, just like supervillains,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisementOrtega believes the spread of misinformation and disinformation will intensify during the 2025 midterm election season, as most of the candidates backed by the former president are not faring well in the surveys.
According to the lawmaker, the candidates would try to latch on to President Marcos so that they could grab some airtime.
It would be better, Ortega said, if the candidates endorsed by Duterte would just present their platforms, which was what the people would want and need to know.
“I’m sure it will intensify during the campaign because the contenders from their group are just one or two candidates. So the others would just launch tirades against the president, the House of Representatives. They rank 50th, 40th. They are just riding on the president’s fame, trying to destroy him, but they don’t rank in the surveys,” he said.
“Plataporma kaya ilatag nila? At hindi paninira, tingnan natin, baka umangat nang kaunti sa survey, mas maganda. Kasi ang tao, nagahanap ng resulta ‘yan, nagahanap ng magandang plataporma ‘yan. Kahit naman saang lugar, sa probinsya, sa school government, kailangan ang ilalatag mo plataporma hindi ‘yong nandyan ka lang tuwing kampanya,” he added.
(Why don’t they present their platforms, instead of mudslinging? And let’s see, maybe their numbers would improve. Because the people want results, good platforms. Wherever you may be, in the province, in a school government, we really need to present our platform instead of just being present during campaigns.)
Duterte’s candidates, running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) banner, are facing an uphill battle.
As Ortega noted, recent surveys have shown that only two PDP candidates — incumbent Senators Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa — may win if elections were held in past months.
Last February 10, Pulse Asia released a survey showing that dela Rosa ranked 10th if elections were held from January 18 to 25. Go meanwhile ranked second.
The rest of Pulse Asia’s top 14 Senate bets is dominated by candidates from Marcos’ Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.
