Makabayan bloc seeks probe into Cambridge Analytica’s ‘hand’ in Duterte campaign

The Makabayan bloc on Thursday said it would file a House resolution to investigate reports that President Rodrigo Duterte benefited from the improper sharing of data of British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica during his presidential campaign.

In a press conference, ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio cited reports that "several executives of Cambridge Analytica" met with officials concerned with Duterte's social media campaign during the May 2016 elections.

He was referring to Jose Gabriel “Pompee” La Viña and Peter Tiu Laviña who, according to a report by The South China Morning Post, dined with Cambridge Analytica's suspended board of director, Alexander Nix.

"Some months before President Duterte announced his candidacy ay nakipagkita rin yung mga tao sa Cambridge Analytica sa kanya," Tinio said.

"Alam naman natin na isa sa mga kalakasan ng campaign ni President Duterte at yung pagpapanatili ng kanyang popularity ngayon ay yung social media, yung manipulasyon ng social media including yung pagpapalaganap ng fake news," he added.

Aside from this, Tinio said the House of Representatives should also summon executives of Facebook, amid reports that there had been an "ex-deal" with the social media company and the Duterte administration.

"Kailangang imbestigahan din dito ang relasyon naman ng Facebook at ng Duterte administration partikular dahil nga meron talagang ex-deal na magaganap sa pagitan ng Duterte administration at ng Facebook," he said.

According to Tinio, Facebook had to strike a deal with the Philippine government in order to have a "by-pass" for their cable wires found north of Luzon that consistently break. He said the cable wires had to be installed on Philippine soil.

"So in exchange, may usapan sa pagitan ng Facebook at DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology), bibigyan ng bandwidth ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas para sa balak na national broadband network," he said.

"So may ex-deal. May malaking pakinabang ang Facebook, pero may malaki ring pakinabang ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas," he added.

Malacanang, however, on Tuesday denied that Duterte's presidential campaign benefited from Cambridge Analytica's data breach.

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte won the election "fair and square," garnering over 16 million votes and a margin of over six million to his next opponent.

"Support for the former Davao city mayor was from all sectors and not just from Facebook or online," he said.

"Thus, the Duterte campaign did not have to purchase information," he added. — MDM, GMA News