Robredo calls on supporters to join fight vs disinformation, country's demons

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan - Vice President and presidential bet Leni Robredo on Saturday called on her supporters to fight the demons that had been plaguing the country for the past six years, including massive disinformation.

Robredo made the appeal during a dialogue with priests, nuns, and the members of the religious community at the Immaculate Concepcion Major Seminary Gymnasium, saying that the proliferation of false and vicious information in online platforms should be met with efforts towards a truthful information drive.

"Gobyernong Tapat, Angat Buhay Lahat is not just a promise of a competent and honest government but a call to action. I hope you can join us in fighting the demons that have been hounding us for the past six years. Every election is a reset button, and this election is the biggest reset button in changing the prevailing brand of politics in our country," Robredo said.

"We have to ensure that this election will bring forth the kind of leadership our country needs," she added.

In a speech delivered earlier in the day in Bulacan's San Jose del Monte City, Robredo said that the abundance of false information online had misled numerous voters who now believed many untruths about her.

"Noong buong panunungkulan ko po bilang Vice President. Anim na taon po 'yun. Nagfe-Facebook kayo? Nagfe-Facebook ba kayo? Nagyu-Youtube na kayo? Nagti-Tiktok ba kayo? Nakita niyo naman siguro kung anu-anong kasinungalingan ang sinabi sa akin. Lahat po yatang pamba-bash ginawa na sa akin. Ang problema po niyan, dahil napakaraming mga fake accounts hindi na natin alam kung ano 'yung totoo at ano 'yung hindi," Robredo said.

(In my six years as Vice President... have you have seen online content that spewed many lies about me on Facebook, Youtube, and Tiktok? All the insults you can think of were thrown at me by fake accounts, so much so that people don't know what is true anymore.)

"Ang problema po, marami po iyong pinapaniwalaan 'yung hindi totoo. Kaya ito po 'yung ihihingi kong tulong galing sa inyo lahat. Kayo po na nakaalam kung anong klaseng trabaho 'yung binigay natin sa taumbayan, tulungan niyo po kami. Tulungan niyo po kami na basagin ang kasinungalingan dahil ang ayaw po nating mangyari na ang eleksyon na ito madedesisyonan base sa kasinungalingan," Robredo added.

(The problem is many are falling for these lies, that is why I am asking for your help in countering these falsehoods because you know how we work. Let us work together to destroy these lies so that our election won't be decided based deceit.)

Robredo then said that a vote based on wrong information would result in electing fraudulent leaders who are only after their well-being rather than the country.

"Ang gusto po natin, kung magdedesisyon tayo, ang pinanggagalingan noon puro katotohanan lang. Dahil pag kasinungalingan po 'yung pinagbabasehan, baka naman ang iboto natin 'yung nagpapanggap lang na mahal ang taumbayan," Robredo added.

(The decision should be based on facts. Because if a decision is based on lies, we will elect public officials who only pretend to look after us.)

Bulacan has at least two million registered voters for the 2022 elections.

Most of these voters were in the City of San Jose del Monte, which had at least 600,000 registered voters. — DVM, GMA News