FORMER Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) chief Trixie Cruz-Angeles and 10 other social media personalities are facing contempt and detention at the House of Representatives if they continue to snub its hearing on the proliferations of fake news and disinformation that favor former president Rodrigo Duterte and her daughter Vice President Sara Duterte.
“Congress has the authority to summon individuals to testify on matters of public interest. Ignoring lawful orders is a direct challenge to our institution and the democratic principles we protect,” said Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, lead chair of the tri committee which is set to resume its hearing on Friday.
The joint committee, which is composed of the Committees on Public Order, Public Information, and Communications Technology (ICT), subpoenaed the political vloggers and social media influencers last month after they again failed to attend the joint panel’s third hearing despite receiving show cause orders.
On the motion of Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), the joint panel issued a subpoena ad testificandum to the resource persons after receiving excuse letters for missing the hearing last February 4.
Some of the other social media figures summoned were Jay Sonza, Vivian Velez, Enzo Recto and George Ahmed Paglinawan.
“Disinformation is a national security issue. It erodes public trust, destabilizes institutions, and manipulates democratic discourse. We cannot allow social media to become a free-for-all platform for deception and propaganda,” said Fernandez, chair of the Public Order and Safety panel.
Administration lawmakers earlier slammed allies and supporters of the detained former president for relentlessly spreading fake news following his arrest and turnover to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands last week, calling it a “national embarrassment” in the face of the international community.
They said even the ICC has fallen victim to misinformation after Duterte’s supporters spread false claims online about Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, a Romanian.
Fernandez, a co-chair of the House quad committee which has been investigating the former president’s bloody war on drugs and its links to illegal Chinese-run offshore gaming operations, reiterated that Congress has the constitutional authority to summon individuals to testify on matters of public interest.
The administration lawmaker, who has been targeted by Duterte loyalists, said ignoring lawful congressional summons “is a direct challenge to our institution and the democratic principles we protect.”
The same group of vloggers and social media personalities earlier filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to stop the House of Representatives from compelling them to attend the congressional hearings.
Most of the resource persons gave similar justifications for their absence, citing their petition for certiorari before the High Court as their reason for defying the House.
Cruz-Angeles, a lawyer who has openly questioned the legitimacy of the congressional inquiry, was issued a show-cause order for openly opposing the panel’s investigation.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, lead chairperson of the House quad committee whose December 16 privilege speech and a resolution filed by Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga prompted the inquiry, said that “contrary to what others may be thinking, this is not in any way a tool to suppress their expressions or opinions on certain issues, whether they may be political or economic or even other points of views.”
The joint committee is reviewing the effectiveness of social media platforms in curbing disinformation and to identify gaps that need to be addressed through legislation to ensure that perpetrators will be held accountable.
The House is also expected to push for stronger policies that will ensure social media platforms implement stricter safeguards and penalties against violators.
This Friday’s hearing will also feature key government agencies, social media platforms, media organizations and civil society groups, including representatives from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Commission on Elections (Comelec), Department of Justice (DOJ), the NBI, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the PNP.
Representatives from Google Philippines, Meta (Facebook), and ByteDance (TikTok) are also expected to attend to address concerns over the role of their platforms in the spread of false information.
The Fernandez panel also issued earlier show cause orders to the Philippine offices of Facebook and TikTok for their absence in the previous hearings.
POSERS
On Wednesday, Speaker Martin Romualdez warned of legal actions against those who are posing as him on social media, saying: “It has come to my attention that fraudulent social media accounts are impersonating me and using my name and position to communicate with unsuspecting individuals. These fake accounts are not mine, and I categorically deny any association with them,” he said on Facebook.
“I take this matter seriously and will not tolerate any attempt to misrepresent me for personal or political gain.”
“Rest assured, I am working with cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies to take necessary actions against these impostors,” added the House leader.
