Members of the House prosecution team are pressing for a deeper investigation into the proliferation of fabricated “quote cards” and social media content designed to mislead the public regarding the Senate impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The prosecution panel is requesting assistance from the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC)—an inter-agency body under the Department of Information and Communications Technology—to identify the entities responsible for producing and disseminating the misleading graphics.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon raised the alarm over the weekend after a fake statement was falsely attributed to Atty. Michael Poa, a spokesperson for Vice President Duterte’s legal defense.
“We will coordinate with the CICC on the matter to look further into the personalities behind itong mga ganitong fake news,” Ridon stated during an online media briefing.
The altered graphic purported to show Poa responding to comments made by Ridon regarding the conduct of the defense council.
Poa publicly rejected the quote on Tuesday, August 18, clarifying that he never uttered the remarks and urging online outlets to retract or rectify the posts.
Ridon commended Poa for setting the record straight, clarifying that his frustration was directed strictly at the orchestrators of the disinformation campaign rather than the defense spokesman.
“He has my friendship and he has my respect on the matter,” Ridon said of Poa.
“But ‘yung wala akong respeto, ‘yung pong mga actually nag-unleash ng fake quote po ni Atty. Poa, and I think it is something that we will look further into on who these personalities are,” he added.
Ridon pointed to a page operating under the name “Central Luzon Media” as the original generator of the false quote card, which was subsequently shared across online networks supporting Duterte.
He noted that the same page had previously targeted house prosecutors with similar altered materials, reinforcing his earlier demand for an inquiry into regional disinformation networks to ensure public access to accurate information regarding the trial.