Malacañang asked the public to stop spreading fake news about the government's coronavirus (COVID-19) response, saying the spread of baseless and malicious rumors is not helping and only causes undue panic.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles made the statement after a voice clip of a woman circulated on Thursday, January 6, and asked the public to stock up on necessities as President Duterte will supposedly declare either martial law or a "total lockdown" until the end of the month due to the recent spike of COVID-19 cases.
In his press briefing on Friday, January 7, Nograles labeled the voice clip as fake news and asked the public to only get their information from credible sources.
"Fake news po ito. 'Wag po tayong magpapaniwala sa ganitong uri ng balita (This is fake news. Let us not believe this kind of news). Please get your news and information from credible sources only," he said.
"Kaya naman po binabalita agad natin ang mga bagong hakbang laban sa COVID para alam kaagad ito ng taumbayan (This is why we are quick to tell the public any new measure against COVID-19 so everyone will be informed)," he added.
The acting Palace spokesman appealed to those spreading fake news to stop doing it as it is not helpful.
"Tigilan niyo na po ito, please. Hindi ito biro (Please stop it. This is not a joke)," Nograles said.
"We're dealing with a real threat that understandably concerns our people and spreading baseless and malicious rumors contributes to unnecessary anxiety and to needless panic. Hindi po ito nakakatulong (This is not helping)," he added.
On Thursday evening, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana himself belied the circulating voice clip, saying there is "no compelling reason" for the government to declare martial law just to contain the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases.
On January 6, the Philippines logged 17,220 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 2,888,917 since last year.