Senate on Wednesday has started the investigation on the proliferation of fake or misleading news and false information in the country.
Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, chaired by Senator Grace Poe together with the committee members, officials from the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), heads of local blog sites, and members of the media tackled some of the “fake news” surfaced online on the recent days and the possible grounds and penalties to be faced by the violator on the proposed anti-fake news bill.
PCOO Undersecretary Joel Egco stated in the senate hearing that there is no clear or legal definition of fake news so far.
“The problem is, fake news as a term is being used, generic eh. We can even accuse anyone of us here, each other of committing fake news because we don’t have clear or legal definition of fake news so far,” Egco said.
“Naging media jargon ‘yan, kapag nasaktan, nagalit, fake news ‘yan,” he added.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said that government already had an idea what fake news is.
“Actually, may ideya na po ang gobyerno kung ano ang fake news, hindi pa man ito nasa batas. Kasi ang gobyerno natin ang nag-host ng round table discussion encountering fake news and communicating the right information, kung saan ay si Sec. Andanar mismo ay umupo bilang chair ng (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) ASEAN minister responsible for information… Alam na po ng gobyerno kung ano ang fake news in essence.”
Assistant Secretary for Operations Atty. Ana Maria Paz Banaag, then supported Egco’s statement, saying, “I think what the Undersecretary is saying here is that, for the body or the senate define what fake news is in order for us to move on with the other matters.”
Banaag clarified Senator Hontiveros’ claimed on the recent ASEAN forum, “It was not a forum to define fake news for it to become a law that would be penalized by our government.”
Egco also added that the ASEAN forum was a gathering of media personalities from ASEAN countries and Japan.
“They (were) gathered there to tell their own stories about Facebook to tell the body to create, to formulate a regional approach in combating fake news,” he said.
Meanwhile, the committee also discussed during the hearing the controversial post of the website ‘SilentNoMorePH’ condemning the seven majority senators who failed to sign the senate resolution against killings of minors in the country.
Senator Cynthia Villar, one of the seven senators tagged in the website article demanded to know the reason behind the allegations against them.
“In our next hearing, we’ll not allow them not to come here. It is our… I think the only thing you can do for us so we will feel better, that they come here and face us and explain to us why they did that,” Villar said.
Mr. Rey Joseph Nieto of Thinking Pinoy, who also attended the hearing, revealed that the owner of the SilentNoMorePH website is a certain “Cocoy Dayao”.
“I think the most important person to ask here is Mr. Cocoy Dayao and obviously he didn’t want to go here today,” Nieto mentioned in relation to answering who is behind the said fake news.
In addition, Senator Poe said that the committee will send subpoenas to the heads of the said website, particularly to Dayao.
“I would like to assure you that if they do not show up, well we are now sending them a subpoena to appear,” Poe adding “may pagka duwag rin ang hindi nagpapakita pero tira ng tira.”
For his part, Senator Vicente Sotto said that he cannot let this incident pass particularly the damage that the unconfirmed owner of the ‘Silent No More PH’ Facebook page caused.
“Once you start hitting me, calling me names and charging me with crimes I did not commit, my first move is to hunt you down,” Sotto said.
Senator Francis Pangilinan, author of the Resolution no. 516 claimed that the news were inaccurate.
He also clarified that sent copies of thru email of senators before it was filed.
The hearing stemmed on Senate Majority Floor Leader Sotto’s privilege speech regarding the fake news of the blog ‘SilentNoMorePH’ about the Resolution no. 516 investigating the death of the teenagers which it accused that seven senators refused to sign. | (Tina Joyce Laceda & Angelica Bobiles – PTV)