Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo has called out the government for its lack of initiative in holding fake news peddlers accountable.
Robredo aired her concern in a radio interview on Sunday, Jan. 9, on the government's action against the proliferation of fake news amid the existing national health crisis, stressing that peddling of fake news in the country continuous to thrive due to the absence of initiative to hold peddlers responsible.
The Vice President claimed that she has made numerous complaints through a government agency she refused to divulge but "no action has been made."
"Meron na kaming nireklamo before. Hindi ko na sasabihin kung saang ahensya kami nagreklamo, hanggang ngayon wala pa. Wala pang aksyon (We have made a complaint before. I won't say where agency, but there's no action until now)," Robredo said.
"Kung hindi ito aaksyunan talagang walang mangyayari. Ito na yung ang magpapatakbo ng– ang magpapatakbo ng– parang society natin, kasinungalingan. Kasi yung nagsisinungaling nga hindi naman napu-put to– parang hindi naho–hold into account, hindi napaparusahan (If this will not be addressed, this will remain a cold case. Our society will end up being ran by lies. Because peddlers are not being held into account, they are not punished)," Robredo added.
The aspiring president further said that they can only do so much such as reporting and correcting fake news.
"Kami ginagawa namin yung kailangan gawin, yung nag-rereport kami, wala talaga eh. Walang aksyon, Ka Ely. Walang aksyon (We are actually doing what we need to do like reporting them. But there's no action. No action)," she said.
"Marami na kaming– marami nang pagkakataon na nagreklamo tayo. Nakikita natin, Ka Ely, yung effect ng pag pinabayaan yung fake news talagang yung mindset ng mga tao, yung mga paniniwala ng mga tao napapaglaruan and nakikita natin yun ngayon (We have made numerous complaints already. We can see that when we let fake news thrive, the mindset and beliefs of people are manipulated and we are seeing that now)," she added.
The opposition leader further said that she has not seen any initiative from the government to do the rest of the job in stopping the proliferation of fake news, which, according to her, "is beyond their control."
"Parang wala naman. At least wala akong nakikitang ganoong initiative (There seems to be no action. At least, I don't see any initiative)," she said.
Robredo cited the fake news on the implementation of martial law and lockdown amid the surge of new cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which only "creates panic among the public," prompting them to hoard goods and medicines.
She said misinformation like this will thrive because "the purveyors of fake news are not held into account."