Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday denied posting about the help her office extended to the slain mother and son in Paniqui, Tarlac.
(Mark Balmores / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
A photo reportedly of Robredo made the rounds on social media wherein a woman witha face mask on was seen handing the Gregorio family cash assistance. What irked netizens was the way the money was angled to face the camera as if to make people see how much money is being given.
“I know this is the Christmas season but can’t let this pass because I need to call out fake news,” Robredo said, “This is definitely not me.”
The vice president said the person who informed her about the photo said it was from a government agency, but she hasn’t verified this information yet.
Netizens also posted the photo side-by-side with a screencap of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 3’s Facebook post that attributes the assistance given to the Gregorio family to the social welfare department.
It seemed that Robredo’s critics used the picture to make it seem like the vice president is only helping people for theatrics.
In the caption, the person who posted the photo called Robredo and her efforts to help the victims fake.
“My God, fVP (fake VP) Leni porridge, you really need a camera? You need to show how much money you are giving? You’re impossible. Your sympathy is fake. You are just using others. They’re wrong into thinking you’re just a puppet. Your true personality is showing. Your attitude is trash that it reeks. You are ruining Christmas,” the post said.
Robredo affirmed that her office did indeed help the victims.
“We definitely gave help to the family of the slain mother and son but we never posted about it,” she said.
Last week, a mobile phone video showing Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca, 46, shot dead Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank Anthony Gregorio, 25, during an altercation went viral on social media.
The Gregorios were laid to rest last Sunday, with their bereaved families calling for justice.
Robredo appealed to the public to help report the “fake news peddler” who’s making the accusations about her via the use of another government agency’s photo.