Robredo calls columnist ‘purveyor of fake news’

Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, April 23, slammed The Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao after the latter linked her and the Liberal Party (LP) to the recent European (EU) Parliament’s resolution that called on the Philippine government to put an immediate end to its campaign against illegal drugs. (Photo: VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, April 23, slammed The Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao after the latter linked her and the Liberal Party (LP) to the recent European (EU) Parliament’s resolution that called on the Philippine government to put an immediate end to its campaign against illegal drugs.

“I don’t read his columns nor do I know him. One thing I can say is he definitely is a purveyor of fake news,” Robredo said in a Tweet.

“Never saw or spoke or communicated with a single EU official or representative while I was in Germany,” she added.

Tiglao, in his April 23 column, noted that the EU resolution was passed and introduced without debate. This, according to his unnamed sources, was made possible “through the efforts of the Liberal Party and its foreign supporters, the German Friedrich Nauman Foundation and the Liberal International’s affiliated parties in the European Parliament.”

“I was also told that Vice President Leni Robredo and her Liberal Party colleagues during their trip last week to Germany sponsored by the German foundation also met with German members of the European Parliament to urge them to have the April 18 resolution passed,” he added.

In a separate post on Facebook, the Vice President defended that she did not meet a single member or representative of the EU Parliament, adding that she has no idea where Tiglao got his “information.”

“The trip was scheduled as early as October 2017 and was intended to be an opportunity to engage German academics, members of Civil Society, and officials on poverty alleviation and women empowerment,” she stressed.

Robredo also insisted that she must continue to call out “fake news.”

The Vice President and her LP members recently drew flak for posing and taking a photo at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany.  Robredo has since expressed her apologies and said that she took “full responsibility” of the gaffe.