Malacañang saying the Senate can investigate "all they want" the reports that public funds were being used to fund troll farms that spread misinformation through social media.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after 12 senators called for the investigation following Senator Panfilo Lacson's disclosure that a government undersecretary has been allegedly preparing troll farms in the country ahead of the 2022 polls.
In his press briefing on Wednesday, July 14, Roque said the Palace welcomes the move of the Senate.
"We welcome po ang imbestigasyon na gagawin ng Senado (We welcome the investigation that will be conducted by the Senate)," he said.
"Independiyenteng sangay 'yan ng gobyerno at 'di namin madidiktahan (The Senate is an independent branch of government that we cannot dictate on). So they can investigate all they want," he added.
Talks on investigating troll farms came after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the hiring of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) of 375 contractual workers last year.
Communications Undersecretary Kris Ablan confirmed COA's report but insisted that the agency has no trolls. He added that the number of contractual workers in the agency had gone down to 305.
He explained that the workers were hired to accomplish "highly technical tasks" which included production and creatives.
Attacks on Facebook page
Meanwhile, Roque likewise asked the Senate to include in their probe the attacks on his Facebook pages, citing a study that found overwhelming negative comments there.
"Paki-imbestiga rin po yung mga bumabanat sa aking mga (Please also investigate the attacks against me by) trolls because according to a study, ako po yung pinakamatinding binabanatan ng mga trolls (I was the government official heavily attacked by trolls)," he said.
"Naniniwala po ako na organized din 'yang mga banat sa akin. So pakitignan na rin po yung mga banat sa presidential spokesperson (I believe the attacks against me were organized so please include in your probe the attacks on the presidential spokesperson Facebook page)," he added.
An independent study of WR Numero Research, a technology-driven public opinion and data analytics company, found that Roque received overwhelmingly negative sentiments in mainstream media, making him the least influential political personality in the said category with a score of -52.5 percent. Next to him was Senator Francis Pangilinan with -13.5 percent.
According to WR Numero, Roque’s 39-percent lead over Pangilinan was “unparalleled.”
“None of the last-ranked political personality in any other category of Facebook pages studied has received this overwhelmingly negative sentiments,” the report read.
The study, which was conducted from April 20 to June 5, 2021, monitored three categories of Facebook pages including those of the mainstream media, alternative media, and official Facebook pages.