They don’t do motorcades or rallies with thousands of people in attendance. Instead, presidential candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and his running mate Vicente “Tito” Sotto III prefer engaging with people from different sectors of society.
Love filled the air in Pasig City’s business district as thousands braved the scorching summer heat to show support to the presidential bid of Leni Robredo, her running mate, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and their eight senatorial candidates Sunday.
Presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos claimed that galunggong or round scad, which he stressed was "for the poor," is the fish “easiest to raise.” There is no basis for his claim because research on galunggong aquaculture is still ongoing, and experts have no conclusions on its feasibility.
Presidential candidate Dr. Jose “Joey” Montemayor, who is against mandatory vaccination, claimed that the number of fully vaccinated individuals in the Philippines has not reached 30 million as of early March. This is false.
More than 65.74 million Filipinos are expected to cast their votes on May 9 in the country’s first-ever national elections during a pandemic.
House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta, a candidate for senator in the May 9 polls, claimed that media giant ABS-CBN Corp. “hid” the “right amount” of taxes it should pay through its subsidiary, Big Dipper. This is false.
Campaigning for the upcoming May 9 elections will be like no other in the country's history because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Filipinos will vote for a new set of national and local leaders amid a raging pandemic that has claimed more than 50,000 lives, nearly crippled the economy, and challenged the competence of incumbent officials in addressing the public health crisis.
Publishers of disinformation were at full throttle this year in their production of inaccurate election-related posts — most of which circulated to either prop up or attack certain political aspirants even before the official start of the campaign period for next year’s national polls.
Humor is ingrained in the psyche of many Filipinos. It helps diffuse tension when discussing controversial topics such as politics or social issues. But others see it as an opportunity to sublimely ridicule a person or a group for a matter involving them; taking offense is unwise because “talo ang pikon (sore loser),” so they say.
This year, a worrisome trend in local disinformation from YouTube channels became more prominent. It takes only one YouTube video uploaded across social media channels to be a super-spreader of misinformation.
