Poe to summon Cocoy Dayao in next hearing on fake news

FILE: Sen. Grace Poe. (PNA photo)

MANILA — Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday said that she will be summoning Edward Angelo “Cocoy” Dayao, a former consultant for the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) during the Aquino administration, in the next Senate hearing on fake news.

“Sa ngayon si Dayao pa lang ang may subpoena kasi mukha talagang hindi niya gustong sumipot (Now, it’s only Dayao who will be issued a subpoena since it seems as though he doesn’t want to show up),” Poe said in an ambush interview.

“He has a lot of explaining to do in this committee because the websites he operates have had a lot of questionable things to say,” Poe said.

Dayao’s name was brought up in the hearing after a blogger, RJ Nieto, claimed that he was the same person who ran the controversial Silent No More (SNM) PH blog which has been described in reports as aligned with the Liberal Party.

SNM is the same site that published an article calling seven senators “Malacanang Dogs” for not signing a resolution urging the government to end the killings of minors.

Nieto, who admitted being “aligned” with the Duterte administration, first made the expose in a blog post ”#CocoyGate: Senator Sotto, here’s the guy you’re looking for” published on September 29.

According to Nieto, Dayao also ran at least 20 other websites which were mostly anti-Duterte and previously worked as political communications head for Senators Francis Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV.

Dayao was a no-show in the Senate hearing despite being invited by Poe’s committee.

Aside from Dayao, Poe said that she will also be inviting representatives from Google and Facebook to know more about the process involved in how blogs earn money.

“Gusto na nating imbitahin dito ang Google at Facebook, not necessarily to regulate them but to know the processes involved — ang mga blogs kumikita na rin ng pera yan. Magkano ang kinikita niyan? (We want to invite Google and Facebook, not necessarily to regulate them but to know the processes involved — because blogs also earn money. How much do they earn),” she added. (PNA)