The leader of an activist group became a victim of false claims that circulated on Facebook at the height of the third state of the nation address last Monday.
In a series of posts, Renato Reyes Jr, secretary-general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, shared how he responded to those who were spreading lies about him on social media.
On July 26, Reyes shared the apology of one of them, a 23-year-old woman who previously claimed to be her classmate back in high school despite the evident age difference between them.
“Huwag na huwag niyo po kong tutularan. Mag ingat kayo sa mga kinocomment niyo, pinopost niyo sa mga taong di niyo kilala,” advised the Facebook user, who was introduced as Khesia in the video.
How he acted against dangerous rumors
The rumor-mongering against Reyes started when the now-deleted post of a certain Gabriel Ilano who was a sales representative in a computer store in Gilmore, Quezon City.
From there, several people, including the one shown in the video, also asserted to have known Reyes.
To disprove these made-up stories, he shared screenshots of what they have written in the comments section from Ilano’s original post.
“None of these claims are true. Hindi ko sila kailanman kilala. Mag-ingat sa bandwagon ng kasinungalingan. Please share so the public may know. Please report the site Filipino Trends as we prepare to take legal action against them,” Reyes declared.
The BAYAN official immediately reported Ilano and several others to proper authorities and may have tried to reach out to them online.
Reyes revealed that Ilano’s wife was suffering from depression.
“For the record, I have no interest in pursuing a case against one who suffers from depression. Sapat na yung apology at pangako na magdeactivate ng account. At sana makakuha din ng professional help para hindi makasakit ng iba,” Reyes explained.
Who is Renato Reyes Jr?
Prior to this, Reyes exposed digitally-altered photos of the anti-SONA protest along Commonwealth Avenue to make it look like these were administration supporters.
The rallies of those who were pro-Duterte were held at the Batasan Road.
The University of the Philippines graduate is not new to fake news as he had previously debunked an article that asserted he and his son figured in a car accident.
Reyes had been the secretary-general of BAYAN since House speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo first came to power as president in 2001.