Guanzon blasts Marcos, cites vote buying, fake news as major Eleksyon 2022 problems

Former Commission on Elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Monday said vote buying and fake news are among the major problems in the May 9 polls as she criticized presidential candidate and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

In a virtual event by the University of the Philippines - Los Baños, Guanzon said the “hard task” nowadays is convincing people to vote for the right candidate for the sake of the country. However, with the proliferation of misinformation, many people are swayed by certain politicians.

“Our serious problem is that fake news is proliferating and the intelligent people seem hopeless about it because now we do not teach in the classrooms, but we teach through social media. We are outnumbered by people who are paid to do this job and are targeting people who are less educated than them,” she said.

In combating fake news, she encouraged the people to go to communities, particularly in rural areas, where social media is limited.

Guanzon said another election issue is vote buying, citing the well-funded machinery of Marcos as an example.

“We are up against Marcos machinery that is well-funded,” she said.

“Another Marcos? This one is worse because he’s a cocaine addict, he’s lazy, he did not graduate from college, he has no discipline,” she added.

Guanzon further claimed that Marcos is a “serious threat” to economic recovery and the education of the children.

“Tatlong taon ginawa ni Marcos fake news lang eh. Trolls galing India, Thailand. Tapos the use of social media for fake news talagang nag-succeed siya doon. ‘Yan ang reality diyan,” she said.

(In three years, Marcos used fake news with trolls from India and Thailand. He succeeded in the use of social media for fake news. That’s the reality.)

GMA News Online sought the comment of the Marcos camp regarding Guanzon’s statement but it has yet to respond as of posting.

The former poll commission urged the voters to look for a candidate who would prioritize economic recovery and has a track record.

“You should have a candidate already in mind because if you don’t, then the fake news machinery is going to defeat you. You already know what standards, but you have to focus on the message of economic recovery because of the high unemployment rate,” she said.

Prior to her retirement, Guanzon allowed the release of her separate opinion in favor of the petition to disqualify Marcos, saying the non-filing of income tax returns for four consecutive years constitutes “moral turpitude.”—AOL, GMA News