A fake story that Sen. Risa Hontiveros herself already debunked last year about her alleged filing of a bill raising the qualifying age for senior citizenship is circulating on social media once again.
From July 4 to 5, at least three Facebook pages re-shared the false Nov. 26, 2017 story of philrepublicnews.com on Hontiveros suggesting to increase by five years the current 60-year-old minimum age requirement.
The story bore the headline “HONTIVEROS, ginawang 65 yrs old ang MINIMUM AGE ng SENIOR CITIZEN at gustong ipatigil ang P500 na PENSION nila kada buwan (Hontiveros made 65 the minimum age for senior citizens and wants to stop their P500 monthly pension)!”
The opposition senator, reacting to earlier versions of the story first published in March 2017, denied the allegation on her official Facebook and Twitter pages:
At least 16 bills concerning senior citizens have been filed in the Senate since 2016. None of these bills intend to raise the minimum age of senior citizens to 65.
Philrepublicnews.com’s story, which could have reached more than a million people, re-surfaced the same day Hontiveros filed a bill banning the use of plastic straws and stirrers.
Pro-Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. pages are the top and most recent traffic generators of the story from social media: BongBong Marcos United, Duterte and Marcos Unite Supporters and Bong Bong Marcos Factual Information and the Marcoses, For Youngsters… Philrepublicnews.com was created in August 2017.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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