Presidential aspirants swear they're running without trolls

Presidential aspirants have all sworn. They do not have social media trolls working for them as they run for the highest elective position in the country.

During The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he did not employ troll accounts, adding that he only had his official Facebook and Youtube accounts.

“Unang-una napakamahal. Eh, may mga kandidato nga do'n lang nabubuhay eh. They are nowhere to be found. Nabubuhay lang sila dahil don sa mga troll," Moreno said.

"Eh, kaya nga sinabi ko kanina kaya nalilito ang tao kasi sa mga fake news, fake data, kasi fake 'yong kandidato kaya gumagawa na lang ng istorya. And this is very challenging to us,” he added.

(It is very expensive. There are candidates who only live there. They are nowhere to be found. They only survive because of the trolls. That is why people are confused because of fake news, fake data, because your candidate is fake so he's just making up a story. And this is very challenging to us.)

Vice President Leni Robredo said she had no resources to employ trolls in social media sites, adding that she only had volunteers who were “truth tellers.”

“'Yong mga volunteers namin 'yong aming mga truth tellers. Pag merong mga fake news na sinasabi against us, sila 'yong nagcocorrect ng mga information,” Robredo said.

(Our volunteers are our truth tellers. When there is fake news being said against us, they are the ones who correct the information.)

“Pero para gumawa ng kasinungalingan laban sa ibang kandidato o sa ibang tao hindi namin 'yon gagawin kahit pa may resources kami,” she added.

(But to tell a lie against another candidate or another person we will not do that even if we have the resources.)

Senator Manny Pacquiao said that he told his staff not to attack people on social media sites.

“'Yong mga binabayaran po natin binibigyan natin ng allowance at ang sinasabi ko po sa kanila 'wag kayong mang atake, 'wag kayong manira ng tao, ang gusto ko lang ihayag ninyo 'yong magandang nagawa ko at magandang programa ko para sa taong bayan, malinis na hangarin para sa tao,” Pacquiao said.

(Those who I paid were given an allowance and I told them not to attack other people. I ordered them to only share my good programs for the people.)

Senator Panfilo Lacson said that there must be an effective tool against trolls, adding that he was also a victim of trolls who attacked him on his personal Twitter account.

“Ako may sarili akong personal account sa twitter, ako mismo yung nagtutweet, pero pagka nakapag tweet ako ng alam mo na medyo tinamaan, andiyan na ang mga trolls, ako mismo biktima ng mga trolls, so dapat mayroon talaga tayong yung national privacy commission maging aktibo tungkol dito,” Lacson said.

(I have my own personal account on twitter, I'm the one who tweets, but when I was able to tweet that attack their candidate, the trolls are already there, I myself am a victim of trolls, so we should really have the national privacy commission to be active about this.)

Meanwhile, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, who declined the invitation for a one-on-one interview with veteran journalist Jessica Soho, denied having a troll farm on social media sites.

“Natatawa ako kasi nandito ngayon ako kasama ko yung socmed team ko (It is funny because I'm here now with my socmed team). I challenge them to show me where the troll farm is, I challenge them to show me,” he said in an interview with One News.

He added that having a troll farm is an “insult to Filipino intelligence.”

“I have no troll farm, that is an insult to Filipino intelligence. I’ve never had a troll farm, click army, I never bought ads,” he added. —Richa Noriega/NB, GMA News