Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Surigao del Norte del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers told the keyboard warriors who had been disparaging the House quad-committee (quad-comm) to step up their game.

In a chance interview Wednesday, Nov. 20, Barbers says he already knows the endgame of the vloggers and Internet personalities who have been assailing the quad-comm, wherein he serves as overall chairman. 

"Ang paki-usap lang natin, ay sa susunod, galingan niyo. Yun lang (Our only request is, next time, do better. That's it)," said the veteran congressman from Mindanao.

Barbers had earlier brushed off the allegations online that he had links to the illegal drug trade. He called these "fake news".

"Nakakagulat nga yun dahil ginawa na nila akong drug lord, no. Itong mga vloggers na walang humpay sa paninira sa ating kasamahan sa quad-comm, ang kanilang layunin ay klarong klaro: siraan ang kredibilidad nitong quad-comm," he said.

(It's shocking because they made me a drug lord. These vloggers who endlessly attack our colleagues in the quad-comm, their aim is very clear: destroy the credibility of the quad-comm.)

"At isa isa kami na tinitira ng mga vloggers na ito. We don't mind if you criticize us, eh. Walang problema kung kritisismo eh. Pero kung fake news, ay hindi po kritisismo yun," Barbers said.

(One by one, we're being assailed by these vloggers. We don't mind if you criticize us, eh. But if it's fake news, then that isn't criticism.)

"Hindi naman siguro kayo mga walang pinag-aralan para [hindi] ma-distinguish kung ano yung fake news at tsaka kung ano yung totoo," he further said.

(I don't think you are uneducated people who can't distinguish what is fake news from what is true.)

The special four-way panel is investigating in aid of legislation the blood anti-illegal drug drive of the previous Duterte administration.