Not once but six times that President Marcos uttered "fake news" to belie the rumored resignation of Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, which, he said, was an attempt to sow disunity within the administration.
"Unang-una, sagutin ko yung tanong mo: Fake, fake, fake, fake, fake, fake news 'yan (First, I will answer your question: That's a fake, fake, fake, fake, fake, fake news)," Marcos stressed when asked about the issue circulating on social media Thursday, Sept. 12.
The President said it was only a lie made by desperate people, chiding them for contributing chaos to the nation.
"Ang lumalabas lang niyan itong mga desperado, nag-iimbento na lang ng istorya para gumawa lang ng gulo (It appears that these desperate people are only making up stories to cause chaos)," Marcos said
"Wala naman silang naibibigay, wala silang naitutulong, wala silang kontribusyon sa buhay ng bawat Pilipino kundi paninira lamang, kundi panggugulo lamang (They contribute nothing to every Filipino but defamation and disturbance)," Marcos lamented.
Marcos bared that he had talked with Teodoro about the issue on Thursday morning, which the latter denied.
The Chief Executive said they just laughed it off but told Teodoro that they need to address the issue and stressed that he has no problem with Teodoro, thus he will stay on his post.
"Dito sa issue ng kay Secretary Teodoro, natatawa na lang kami. Tinawagan ko siya kaninang umagang-umaga: 'Magre-resign ka raw?' Sabi niya, 'Bakit? Paalisin mo na ako? (We just laughed this issue of Secretary Teodoro off. I called him early this morning: 'They said you're resigning?' He said: 'Why? Are you firing me?)'," Marcos shared.
"Sabi ko, 'Bakit kita paalisin, wala naman tayong problema? (I said, 'Why should I fire you, we don't even have a problem?'," he added.
Marcos pointed out that any changes or movement within his Cabinet will only be announced by him, telling the public to not listen to anybody who "knows nothing" about matters within the Cabinet.
He branded the latest rumor as the "worst example" of fake news proliferated through social media.
"Sa amin, hindi na namin pinapansin 'yan dahil alam namin ang totoo (For us, we don't pay attention to that because we know the truth). I have always said this with some of these rumors that have spread around. Kami, we have the advantage. We know the truth so we will give it to you as soon as we can and as quickly as we can so that people will understand what is going on," he said.
"Kung may magbabago sa Gabinete, sa pamahalaan, e, kami ang mag-a-announce. Hindi kung sino-sino man basta nag-post. Hindi sila ang mag-a-announce walang alam 'yan. Kami ang mag-a-announce (If there are changes in the Cabinet, in the government, we will be the ones announcing it. Not anybody posting on social media. They will not be the ones announcing it, they know nothing)," he further said.
"Sa kasalukuyan, ngayong araw na ito, walang pagbabago (At present, as of today, there are no changes)," the President reiterated.
Marcos reminded the public to beware of this kind of fake news and not be easily swayed by them.
"[K]ailangan nating sagutin at ipaliwanag sa taumbayan na itong ganitong klaseng mga tsismis, mga Marites, kinakalat lang nila ito para manggulo. 'Wag po kayong madala sa ganyan (We need to address this and explain to the people that this kind of rumors is being spread to cause disturbance. Never be swayed by it)," Marcos said.
READ MORE: Defense chief Teodoro didn't resign from post—Palace