Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy at the resumption of the hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media on Tuesday labeled Vice President Leni Robredo as one of the “purveyor of fake news.”
Badoy clarified that the misinformation and misleading information are not from the supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte, pointing out that the President is a “bigger victim” of fake news than the Vice President.
“Just to make it clear that misinformation, lies and all these misleadings do not come exclusively from the Duterte camp. Neither do they come from just officials that are identified with the government,” Badoy said.
“In fact, the Vice President is one of the primary purveyors of fake news and that the President is maybe an even bigger victim than she is,” she added.
The Undersecretary accused Robredo of painting “a gloomy picture” of the country. Badoy is pertaining to Robredo’s recent remark of “prevailing darkness that seems to be enveloping the country right now.”
“This is an international audience that she peddles these lies about,” Badoy said.
Manila Bulletin columnist and blogger Tonyo Cruz then asked if her accusation against Robredo is the official position of the PCOO. Badoy responded that her statement about Robredo was her “personal opinion.”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier disagreed with the remarks of Robredo, saying that it is “completely out of touch with the existing realities on the ground.”
“The darkness that Vice President Robredo may be referring to perhaps pertains to the future of those discredited politicians who wish to return to power,” Roque said in a statement.