​SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta—a critic of the Marcos administration—said Monday, April 21, said that the country deserves "leaders who face reality head-on" as he criticized the government's response to the killing of businessman Anson Que.

"Tragic reality, distorted truth" was how Marcoleta described the developments following the kidnapping and murder of Que and his driver Armanie Pabillo.

His comment came as he criticized how authorities pointed to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) as possibly being behind the kidnap-for-ransom case. He called it a "blatant denial of reality".

"This claim is designed to deflect accountability from the current dispensation and thus shift blame to past policies. Reality is selectively framed to serve a different purpose—not to inform but to manipulate emotions," Marcoleta said.

He says the current narrative about Que's case is a "distortion meant to cover up the reality that today's crime syndicates are emboldened by the ineptitude and corruption of those in power".

"By pinning the blame on POGO—a venture linked to the previous Duterte administration—political operators hope to divert attention from the failure of the current political leadership," he claimed.

"Instead of addressing the rampant corruption and ineffective law enforcement that allow criminal networks to flourish, the conversation is being hijacked by a manufactured crisis," the senatorial aspirant said.

For Marcoleta, "Filipinos are not foolish." Thus, "to insinuate that poor Filipinos are to be blamed because of a political association with POGO is as insulting as it is misleading."

The lawmaker then called for honesty and action as "justice for Anson Que cannot be achieved through spin or distraction." He said it demands a confrontation with truth and reality.

"In the wake of this tragedy, the public deserves better. We deserve leaders who face reality head-on, not those who rewrite it for their own benefit or convenience. The time for truth and accountability is now," he said.