SAN FERNANDO, La Union—Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday, April 12, pointed to the camp of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the one behind the fake news and malicious attacks against her and eldest daughter Aika.
In a media interview after her campaign sortie here, the Vice President said that Marcos has been “consistently” peddling fake news against her since 2016 by using “influencers.”
She noticed that it was only when her survey numbers started to pick up during the 2016 vice-presidential race that the Marcos camp targeted her.
“Oo naman, oo naman kasi ginawa na niya sa akin since 2016, consistently ginagawa 'yun sa akin since nag-pick up 'yung numbers ko noong 2016 elections (Yes, yes because that’s what he did since 2016, consistently it was done to me since my numbers picked up in the 2016 elections),” Robredo said.
“Nakikita naman natin 'yung mga nakapaligid sa kaniya, ito din 'yung mga ginagamit niyang mga influencers hanggang ngayon. Hindi ako hinintuan (We can see the people surrounding him now, these are the same influencers he used until now. They didn’t stop on me) over the last six years.”
The aspiring president added that this kind of attack from the other camp was already expected.
“Kung papano sila lumaban ngayon, ganoon din pag nakaupo na sila. Puno ng kasinungalingan, puno ng dumihan (How they fight now is how they are going to be when seated. Full of lies, full of dirty tactics),” she said.
“Dapat ang i-highlight na lang nila 'yung kabutihan nila saka 'yung kaya nilang gawin. Siguro kaya nag-reresort sa fake news kasi wala na talagang masabing maganda tungkol sa kanila (They should highlight their goodness and what they can do. Maybe the reason they resort to fake news is because nothing good can be said about them),” Robredo added.
Still, she remained confident that good will triumph over evil and the people will choose “the truth.”
On Monday, April 11, posts about an alleged porn video tagging Aika circulated on social media.
READ: Robredo camp slams ‘fabricated’ porn content, eyes legal action
It was the latest attack on her eldest daughter, who was falsely rumored in the past to have been arrested in New York while she was studying at Harvard University.
The Robredos will take a Holy Week break before the last leg of the campaign.
The Vice President said such false allegations, including that she solicited money for her anti-drug programs, will not deter her from campaigning.
Their lawyers are already preparing legal actions against those who spread the malicious posts about Aika.
“Oo kasi hindi ako hihinto dahil sa mga (Yes, because I will not stop because of) fake news. Hindi ako mag we-waste ng time para sagutin lang ‘yan kasi (I will not waste time to answer all that because) in the first place hindi naman totoo (it is not true),” Robredo stressed.
Instead, she asked supporters to report to Lawyers for Leni those sharing the malicious posts.
“Pero hindi ako magsasayang ng oras na hihinto ako sa kampanya para harapin lang kasi praktisado na ako eh (But I will not waste time stopping the campaign to face because I was trained). In the last six years, ‘yun na ‘yung ginagawa natin pero never akong nagpa-apekto (that’s what we’re doing but I never let myself get affected),” she added, noting that she will work harder in her campaign.
She shared that her scheduled rallies are filled from April 18 until May 7, but she also emphasized the importance of continuing house-to-house campaigning.
Robredo felt proud of her volunteers, who don’t need encouragement to do ground campaigning for her “even in the most unexpected places.”