Palace vows to ramp up drive vs fake news
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Atty. Claire Castro (Screengrab from RTVM)
MANILA, Philippines —Malacañang on Thursday vowed to intensify its fight against fake news surrounding the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro welcomed a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey result showing that 51 percent of Filipinos believe Duterte should be held accountable for all the illegal drug-related killings carried out during his administration.
(We are also happy that the majority of the people believe in the actions taken by the government regarding that issue.)
“May mga nakita po rin tayo na iyong iba ay undecided, iyong iba ay hindi well-informed of the situation,” Castro added.
(We have also seen that some are undecided, while others are not well-informed about the situation.)
“So, sa ngayon po ay lalo po nating paiigtingin ang ating pagtatrabaho para po masawata ang fake news dahil malamang po iyong po iba na hindi pa po naniniwala sa ginawa ng pamahalaan ay dahil naniniwala sila doon sa fake news na kumakalat,” she also said.
(So, for now, we will further strengthen our efforts to combat fake news because it is likely that those who do not believe in the government’s actions are influenced by the fake news circulating.)According to the survey results, 25 percent of respondents disagreed that Duterte should be held accountable, 14 percent were undecided, and 10 percent said they were not knowledgeable enough to express an opinion.
Duterte, who has been under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, appeared before the ICC Pre-Chamber Trial I last Friday (Manila time) for the first time, where the judges verified his identity, informed him of the charges filed against him, and enumerated his rights.
His hearing on confirmation of charges is set for September 23, 2025.
