After Duterte’s ICC arrest, more vloggers show up at House disinfo hearing
MANILA, Philippines — The third House hearing on online disinformation couldn’t be more timely amid a sudden wave of false narratives favoring former President Rodrigo Duterte flooded social media the past week.
This follows his arrest on March 11 and transfer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 12 for charges of crimes against humanity over his drug war’s extrajudicial killings and brutal crackdown on criminals when he was Davao City Mayor.
The House Tri-Committee held its third hearing on Friday, March 21, as part of a legislative inquiry seeking to craft bills to regulate social media content and combat disinformation.
After skipping the past two hearings, multiple vloggers, commentators and social media “influencers” attended the hearing, most of whom are known supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Some of them are the same individuals who petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari and prohibition, arguing that the legislative inquiry aimed to suppress free speech in the guise of “regulation.”
Those present, who had been subpoenaed in the previous hearing, included:
- Elizabeth Joie Cruz, known as Joie De Vivre
- Mark Anthony Lopez
- Trixie Cruz-Angeles, former Malacañang press secretary and now social media strategist
- Krizette Laureta Chu
- Richard Mata
- Aeron Peña, known as Old School Pinoy
- Mary Jane “MJ” Quiambao Reyes
- Ethel Pineda Garcia
Pro-Duterte blogger Sass Rogando Sasot was supposed to attend the hearing through Zoom but was not allowed to join. According to Rep. Johnny Pimentel (Surigal del Sur, 2nd District), the committee secretariat did not provide her or anyone with the link, which is only open for House members.
He suggested that the Zoom link may have been leaked after Cruz mentioned that Sasot had received it. Pimentel also noted that the source of the link remains unknown.
Still absent from the hearing are red-tagggers Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz, former officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and hosts of Sonshine Media Network International.
In an opening statement, Reyes and Garcia shared how they are also against “fake news” or the proliferation of false information online.
Reyes, in particular, said she believes this could be tackled by increasing the number of reliable information sources from different agencies. She added that education is crucial to provide Filipinos with the ability to “decipher what is true from what is false.”
Mata, a pediatrician and health vlogger, suggested that a “neutral body” or non-government organization like the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) should be established for vloggers.
“[It] should be composed of trustworthy social media practitioners so we can police ourselves formally,” he said. Mata added that the same body could assist them in controversial posts and issue warnings when deemed necessary.
The Tri-Committee floated this idea in previous hearings, also proposing a code of ethics to regulate social media platforms and user content — not just violations of community standards but, more specifically, content that distorts facts and manipulates narratives.
"We must explore effective strategies for media literacy, the regulation of digital platforms and the promotion of credible sources of information," Pimentel said in his opening remarks.
Since Duterte’s arrest, fabricated claims online portrayed him as a victim and framed his arrest as “kidnapping.”
Some claims also attempted to downplay the number of murders cited in the ICC’s charges as insignificant, while others spread doctored videos and quote cards from celebrities and foreign leaders to falsely depict support and a larger movement behind Duterte.
Disinformation campaigns have also targeted families of extrajudicial killing victims, as well as the ICC judges handling Duterte’s pre-trial proceedings.
Tsek.ph, a pioneer fact-checking coalition, described it as an “unleashed torrent of disinformation” in its analysis of fact checks conducted since the arrest, “spinning tales in his favor.”
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