A story published July 4 by website updatedtayo.info that links the Liberal Party to the July 2 killing of Tanauan City, Batangas mayor Antonio Halili is misleading.
Bearing the headline “Ang Banta kay Mayor Antonio Halili noong Kumalas Siya sa Liberal Party (The threat against Mayor Antonio Halili when he broke away from the Liberal Party),” Updated Tayo insinuates involvement of the oppositional political party in the mayor’s fatal shooting, drawing information from a months-old video pirated by the Facebook page Isoytv. It wrote in its report:
“Ngayon, mukhang mabibigyan linaw na kung sino talaga ang tumira kay Mayor Halili…
Noong kumalas si Mayor Halili sa Liberal Party (LP) ay nawalan na siya ng control sa Philippine National Police (PNP) ng kanilang lungsod. Ito ay dahil sa pagsuporta niya kay Duterte sa pagkapangulo…
Noong sinuportahan niya ang giyera kontro iligal na droga ni pangulong Duterte ay marami na siyang natanggap na pagbabanta sa buhay.”
(Now, it looks like we will have a clear picture of who really shot Mayor Halili…
When Mayor Halili broke away from the Liberal Party, he lost control over the Philippine National Police in his city. This is because he supported Duterte for the presidency…
When he supported President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, he received a lot of death threats.)
Updated Tayo, created on March 6, takes out of context and distorts a statement Halili made in the 15-minute clip, which comes from an hour-long interview with Inquirer 990 Television that aired April 22.
While Halili did say he had been an LP candidate in the 2016 elections who later went on to support President Rodrigo Duterte, he did not directly link his “leaving” the party to death threats he had been receiving since November 2017.
The mayor was more concerned about accusations that he was a “coddler” of illegal drug syndicates, and his being “persecuted” and “harassed” – along with his local anti-crime group – by unidentified men after he had expressed support for Duterte.
Updated Tayo’s misleading story, which could have reached more than 1.2 million people, was published two days after the mayor was shot dead during a flag ceremony in the city hall grounds.
Traffic to the story was largely generated from social media by the pages Angat Pilipino, Hindi Porke’t Nasa Abroad Ako, Mayaman Na! Hindi Ako Banko!, and President Rody Duterte Supporters International.
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