An opinion piece about celebrity politicians supposedly from former Senate president Franklin Drilon is circulating on Facebook (FB). This is not true. It was a commentary by another lawyer published in October 2024.
Since Jan. 11, several Facebook users have circulated a statement supposedly from Drilon taking jabs against celebrities turned politicians. A reader also sent a copy of the text to the VERA Files Misinformation Tip Line for verification.
A copy of the text posted on Jan. 20 read, in part:
“Pls read and pass on if you love the Philippines.
From: former Senate President Drilon.
The best evidence of our political system’s desperate bankruptcy is the proliferation of actors, actresses, and comedians dominating our legislative and executive branches, including the local government units. The enactment of laws and their implementations are now being entrusted to some people who never studied law or public administration.”
The text proceeded to mention celebrities Willie Revillame, Manny Pacquiao, Vilma Santos, Philip Salvador, and Nora Aunor, among others.
Most of the posts also carried photos of Drilon. Some netizens in the comment sections also asked if the statement really came from the former senator.
The commentary was written by a different person and was published on The Freeman – an English-language daily newspaper in Cebu – on Oct. 22, 2024. Lawyer Josephus Jimenez wrote the opinion piece titled, “Of Pacquiao, Revillame, Salvador, Lapid & Revilla, et al.”
Earlier posts still carried the title and the author and only claimed that it was “Forwarded by former Senate President Drilon.” As more netizens shared the text, some started leaving out the title and the original author and directly attributed it to Drilon.
Drilon told VERA Files Fact Check on Jan. 24 that he did not author the opinion piece but confirmed that he indeed forwarded it. The former senator said he corrected the misattribution shortly after it went viral.
At least 10 separate posts by FB users misattributing the text to Drilon collectively garnered 208 reactions, 46 reactions and 301 shares.
