Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the existence of “troll farms” coupled with the proliferation of false information on the Internet are putting a damper on the Filipino voters ability to be discerning of political candidates during the elections.
Besides being effortlessly swayed by politicians who use ‘Tiktok,’ dances to woo votes, some Filipinos are also easily convinced by whatever “trolls” say in social media pages and online platforms.
“Some are suggesting that the best antidote to a troll farm is to put up your own troll farm,” Lacson said in a televised interview on Tuesday, May 11.
“But you know, not everyone has a wherewithal to put up a troll farm. And where is the morality in all these ‘troll against troll’ in these media war?” the senator pointed out.
In the end, Filipinos end up regretting electing a leader that eventually do not meet their expectations.
“Yun problema natin. Yung voters natin (That’s our problem. Our voters) after a while, after electing their leaders, dun lumalabas mga regrets, pagsisi (they eventually have regret) and it’s too late,” he said.
“The next time around, the next election comes ganun na naman (it happens again). It has become a vicious cycle after two or three years,” Lacson lamented.
On Tuesday, the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief expressed his disappointment at President Duterte when the latter admitted that his pledge to ride a jet ski to Spratly Islands supposedly to show the extent of his commitment to defend the country’s sovereignty over territories being claimed by China as a “pure campaign joke.”
Duterte said those who believed in his campaign promise during the 2016 elections are “stupid.”
In response, Lacson said the people should be more discerning in choosing the next president and other elected leaders especially in next year’s May 2022 elections.
“We should be more discerning than what we are right now. Because there’s a lot of disinformation and fake news,” he said.
“And some gullible people tend to believe even the most unbelievable fake news,” he reiterated.