By Raymund Antonio
The spokesperson of Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday denied fake news posts that she was hospitalized in her hometown of Naga City and that her daughters were asking the public for prayers.
Atty. Barry Gutierrez
(FACEBOOK / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Hindi po totoo iyon (That’s not true),” Vice Presidential spokesman Barry Gutierrez said on Robredo’s radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni.”
Gutierrez, who is also a legal adviser to Robredo, took offense at those who spread false information about the Vice President during these difficult times in her family.
“May mga ilang fake news na namang umiikot maski sa ganitong klaseng uri ng balita na personal na trahedya sa isang pamilya. Talagang nagkakalat pa ng fake news,” he said.
(Some fake news has circulated even it's a personal tragedy in the family. They would really spread fake news no matter what.)
The Vice President had to rush home on Friday to attend to her ailing mother Salvacion Gerona, 82, in the hospital.
READ MORE: Robredo rushes to Naga to attend to ailing mom
This was second time Robredo’s mother, who is also known as Sally, was brought to the hospital for medical treatment since last year, Gutierrez said.
They, however, did not disclose her illness.
“My mom was able to survive a most difficult day,” Robredo said in a Facebook post, accompanied with a photo of herself holding her mother’s hand.
Although she’s still on ventilator, Robredo said, Sally is “much better” and her “vital signs have improved.”
The Vice President also thanked the public for their prayers and kind words to her mother.
“Still praying for her complete healing,” the former Camarines Sur representative said.
Salvacio is the wife of late Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Gerona. She has devoted her life as a teacher at the Universidad De Sta. Isabel, where Robredo finished primary school.
Robredo’s daughters—Aika, Tricia, and Jillian—are also in Naga City to visit their grandmother in the hospital.