APPEARANCE Several vloggers and social media personalities invited as resource persons take their oath during the House tri-committee hearing on the spread of “fake news” and disinformation on Friday. —SCREENGRAB FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MANILA, Philippines — Facing a contempt citation and possible detention, a group of social media personalities and vloggers summoned by the House tri-committee finally appeared on Friday for the panel’s third hearing, where they were put on the spot over their controversial online posts.
The nearly seven-hour hearing on the spread of “fake news” and disinformation saw lawmakers particularly grilling three attendees—newspaper editor Krizette Laureta Chu and bloggers MJ Quiambao Reyes and Mark Lopez—and forcing them to apologize for making “sensationalized, baseless” claims.
READ: Abante calls some vloggers ‘stupid’: They write without thinking
Most of the summoned ‘’resource persons’’ have gained a huge following because of social media posts in support of former President Rodrigo Duterte, now a detainee of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Duterte was arrested in Manila and handed over to the ICC last week on charges of crimes against humanity in relation to the brutal drug war he waged as president and earlier as Davao City mayor.
Chu, Reyes and Lopez were among the 11 people invited by the House tri-comm when the inquiry started in February, allegedly for their role in spreading misleading online content.
They snubbed the first hearing and instead went to the Supreme Court with a petition to stop the probe. They also asked the tribunal to bar lawmakers from requiring their presence, saying the inquiry could be used to curtail freedom of speech.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the petition.
Two other summoned resource persons have yet to attend—Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz—prompting the House to again call for their appearance.
The tri-comm is composed of the committees on public order and safety, information and communications technology, and public information.
Apologies, tears
Chu was forced to make an apology by Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante for her March 14 post which claimed there would be a mass resignation in the police and military because of Duterte’s arrest.
“They cannot be part of this government daw (allegedly)” the post partly read.
When questioned at the hearing, Chu explained: “Mr. Chair, I made sure to put the word daw because no policeman has ever come forward to me [to] talk about their discontent.”
“I am maintaining that I am speaking the truth on the impressions on social media.”
But Acidre asked: “Does that mean you just wrote this from your personal impressions, posted on social media, without making sure there is enough basis or made any effort to verify your statements?”
“In putting out information, are you saying categorically that you do not feel any responsibility for the weight of your posts?” he asked Chu.
‘Daw, daw, daw’
Chu, who is also a Lifestyle section editor at Manila Bulletin, replied: “I am saying that I am merely writing about what I see as the pulse of the masses. Which is that there were policemen (who were resigning), which is why I was very careful to write the word daw, daw, daw.”
In the rest of Chu’s post, she wrote: “if you (the police and military) have a chance to change something from the inside, if you are in a rare position to be a force for good, please don’t leave.”
“So, sir, for me, it was more of an opinion piece based on the general impression when I wrote it,” Chu told Acidre.
Asked for his comment, Police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, commanding officer of the operation that placed Duterte under arrest, said: “If the qualification for the word ‘massive’ is more than the normal, there is none. There are regular resignations [in the Philippine National Police] but these are not connected to this issue [of Duterte’s arrest].”
Acidre then called out Chu for posting content merely “based on rumors,” saying such posts are associated with “showbiz reporters.”
He then asked Chu whether she felt responsible for the consequences of her posts concerning “a matter sensitive to national security.”
“I do not feel any responsibility because my conscience is clear; it was not [prefaced] as news,” Chu said. “I never claimed to have firsthand information about this, that’s why it was important for me to say daw.”
Chu initially refused to apologize, but Abante kept pressing her to explain what she meant when she also called the government tanga (stupid) in a separate Facebook post.
This was the post where she claimed that some lawmakers had children living beyond the financial means reflected in their SALN, or statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth.
“That’s why I’m asking you—where did you get this? You said you got this from the news, but you don’t have documents! You cannot even tell me if you’re telling facts or [the truth]!” Abante told Chu.
‘Fake news’ admission
“You mean to tell me you’re going to base your statement—tanga ang gobyerno (the government is stupid)—just from the news that you read?”
At this point, Chu gave in: “I will apologize, Mr. Chair, for my bad words.”
“I apologize for saying tanga in my post,” she said, breaking into tears.
Another vlogger, Mary Jane Quiambao Reyes, was also reduced to tears after Abante confronted her over a post claiming that extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to Duterte’s drug war were “a massive hoax.”
“The anti-Duterte propagandists, likely funded by drug cartels, terrorists, corrupt politicians, greedy oligarchs, and narcopoliticians, are desperately trying to manipulate the global narrative,” Reyes then wrote.
Addressing the panel, Reyes said what she wrote was “my truth” and based on news reports that some pictures of EJK victims shown during protest rallies were of people who did not die during the Duterte administration.
Asked by Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Paduano if she could present proof to support her post, Reyes admitted not having any.
“Okay, sir, next time, sir, before I write something like that we will get documents and not just rely on what is being said by mainstream media.”
Paduano and Deputy Speaker David Suarez also confronted Mark Lopez for claiming in a post that the Philippines was “also watercannoning” Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea
In response, Lopez said he only meant that the country could retaliate that way in the face of China’s aggressive actions.
Pressed by Suarez and Paduano to identify his source for saying Philippine forces had also used water cannon on the Chinese, Lopez replied: “Sige po, I apologize. Fake news po ako.”
READ: Suarez to Pinoy vloggers trained by China: Use skills for PH betterment
Also present at Friday’s hearing was the Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela, whom Lopez had often called a United States lapdog.
Upon hearing Lopez’s admission, Tarriela remarked: “This is exactly the kind of fake news that we are talking about.”