Several posts are circulating on Facebook claiming that Quezon City first district Rep. Juan Carlos “Arjo” Atayde has resigned. This is false.
A quick search on the House of Representatives’ website shows that Atayde remains a member of the chamber as of Sept. 25.
The spurious posts started circulating on Sept. 18, more than a week after Atayde denied his involvement with contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya.
One of the posts bore a graphic with photos of Atayde and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, along with a supposed resignation letter of the congressman. It has a superimposed text that read:
“ARJO, NAG-RESIGN! (Arjo resigned!)”
The post carried this caption:
“He entered politics with passion and purpose. But today, Arjo Atayde has officially resigned as Quezon City Congressman—amid swirling controversy over millions of pesos allegedly misused in a flood control project. What really pushed him to walk away—and how Sylvia Sanchez is coping—might just leave you speechless.”
FB posts from Sept. 18 to 20 carried a link to supposed news reports, published by websites celeb.weeknews247.com and newsjer.com, about Atayde stepping down from his post.
A keyword search on Google yielded no credible media reports supporting such a claim.
Amid the resignation rumor, four FB posts on Sept. 20 showed photos of Atayde in relief operations in several barangays in Quezon City.
“Sa kabila ng nagdaang matinding pagbaha, tiniyak ni Cong. Arjo Atayde na makarating ang tulong sa bawat pamilyang nangangailangan—lalo na sa mga hindi nakalikas at nanatili sa kanilang mga tahanan,” the caption of the posts partly read, still referring to the actor-turned-politician as a congressman.
The photo of a resignation letter used in the post’s graphic does not include Atayde’s name and the House logo. A reverse image search revealed it was a screenshot of a sample resignation letter taken from a YouTube video posted on June 14, 2023.
The inaccurate posts surfaced more than a week after the Discaya couple tagged Atayde among several politicians who allegedly demanded kickbacks from government-funded flood control projects.
The lawmaker categorically denied the allegation that he “benefited from any contractor,” according to his statement on Sept. 8.
A photo of Atayde with the Discaya couple has previously resurfaced on social media, but the congressman said he had only met the contractors “around 2022,” noting “it was the first and last time [he] met with them.”
“We never talked anything about any project. And I’ve never dealt with them,” said Atayde.
Posted by at least seven FB pages, including Pilipina Pulse (Nov. 24, 2024), which published the claim twice, the fraudulent posts have collectively received over 19,168 reactions, 12,558 comments and 1,196 shares as of writing.
