Vice President Leni Robredo and former interior secretary Mar Roxas, her running mate in the 2016 elections, on Monday debunked social media posts that circulated in the local online community.
Is Robredo in Palawan?
Robredo on Monday shared a screengrab of a Facebook post that was sent to her which featured an individual claiming she was in Palawan. It was accompanied by the following caption:
“Nasaan ang bise presidente? Busy naman pala sa Palawan. Ughhh (angry emoji)”
The post included a screengrab of an Instagram post of singer-actress Rachel Alejandro enjoying herself in El Nido, Palawan.
The singer-actress posted the selfie that was falsely being attributed to Robredo on January 20 with a caption expressing her awe with the country’s beaches.
“I never fail to tell people who have never been to our country that the Philippines has the best beaches in the world. Do you agree?” Alejandro wrote.
Robredo said that she was “initially confused” when people began sending her the Facebook post containing Alejandro’s Instagram. She assured the public that she was in her office in New Manila, Quezon City and not in Palawan.
“Kalma lang po. Hindi ako ‘yan. Andito po ako sa opisina, wala sa Palawan,” she wrote with a laughing-with-tears emoji.
“Ako na po humihingi ng paumanhin kay Rachel Alejandro,” Robredo added with a folding hands emoji.
Alejandro also saw the post and shared that she has been receiving lots of comments on her original Instagram picture where online users have similarly been saying she looks like the vice president.
“Basta ‘pag may movie tungkol sa buhay niyo, may idea na kayo sino ang puwedeng mag-portray,” Alejandro commented in the Facebook post of Robredo, with a tongue-out emoji.
“I don’t believe we’ve properly met but let me use this opportunity to thank you for all that you do,” she added.
Robredo then apologized to Alejandro for being dragged in the false posts.
“Nakakahiya sa’yo, Rachel. Thank you for being very gracious about it. Pasensiya na, nadamay ka. But I am so flattered to be compared to you,” the vice president wrote.
Robredo has been the subject of numerous fake social media posts even before she took office. Some of those who spread such posts include government officials like deputy administrator Mocha Uson of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
In another report, the uploader of the false Facebook post said that he did not mean to offend anyone and that it was a “pure sarcasm joke.”
“I just want to chill from our toxic political insights. I know that’s Miss Rachel Alejandro first-hand because that was clearly her Instagram feed,” Mark Raven Dominguez, a nurse by profession, told ABS-CBN News.
He said that his post was not meant to be political and added that he is neither a “DDS” or a diehard Duterte supporter or a “dilawan,” a term used against Liberal Party and its supporters.
‘Please report’
2016 presidential candidate and 2019 senatorial bet Roxas likewise debunked online claims that accused him of being “arrested for possession of illegal drugs.”
“Meron na namang fake news tungkol sa akin. May I ask everyone to pls. report this post – Salamat in advance. At sa mga gumagawa at nagpakalat nitong Fake News – What’s the matter?Desperate for attention? Can’t stand yourself? Pesteng yawa. Enjoy your hell,” he tweeted in response to the post.
Roxas’ post was accompanied by a screenshot of a Facebook user who shared a fake social media graphic that used a news website’s logo.
The manipulated post claimed that Roxas was arrested by the Makati police in a raid done in a hotel. It falsely added that crystal meth or “shabu” worth P200 million was retrieved from slippers to be donated by his wife Korina Sanchez to an orphanage.
Hi all. Sorry to bother.
Meron nanamang fake news tungkol sa akin.May I ask everyone to pls report this post – Salamat in advance.
At sa mga gumagawa at nagpakalat nitong Fake News –
What's the matter?
Desperate for attention?
Cant stand yourself?
Pesteng yawa.Enjoy your hell. pic.twitter.com/wCR5Whoc7n— Mar Roxas (@MARoxas) February 1, 2021
Roxas has retired from politics, as revealed by Sanchez last year.
He has since campaigned in three national elections but lost.
Based on his social media posts, the former politician is busy enjoying his life with his children, twins Pepe and Pilar.
