An old false report claiming that Sen. Risa Hontiveros dared President Rodrigo Duterte to send all members of the Liberal Party (LP) to prison is again making the rounds on social media.
The Nov. 5, 2017 report, published by website bayangpilipinas.com, bore the headline, “Hontiveros may Hamon kay Duterte: Ipakulong Mo Na Kami Lahat, Kung Kaya Mo!” (Hontiveros dares Duterte: “Put us all in prison, if you can!”).
It claimed that the senator told Duterte, “Kung may bayag siya, kung gusto niya ipakulong na niya kami lahat para matapos na ang kanyang paghihirap (If he has balls, why doesn’t he just send us all to prison to end his sufferings),” and linked a Youtube video that has already been taken down.
It also claimed that Hontiveros had said the president is “fond of scaring people without evidence.”
Hontiveros supposedly made these statements following a controversy that linked her party-mates former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to the illegal drug trade.
Websites newslogph.com and favradio.fm also posted the same report, word-per-word.
No legitimate news organization reported that the senator ever made such claims.
The false story was reshared three days after Hontiveros, in a Sept. 20 speech, called Duterte a “destabilizer-in-chief,” in response to the latter’s accusation that the opposition was plotting to destabilize him. She said:
“Kaya’t hinahamon natin si presidente, tigilin niya na ang kaniyang kahibangan na destabilisasyon (We’re challenging the president to stop his delusions on destabilization).”
The report was first uploaded late last year, a few weeks after self-proclaimed drug ring bagman Ricky Serenio, in an affidavit, linked Drilon and Roxas to slain drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. The LP strongly denied the allegation.
Bayangpilipinas.com’s post could have reached at least 1.48 million people. Among the Facebook pages that reshared the post, top generators include OFWDU30 Global Movement Association and Cooperation International and Bayang Pilipinas.
Facebook pages President Rody Duterte Facebook Army and (vf)DDS/ DIEHARD DUTERTE SUPPORTERS were among the top generators when the report was first uploaded.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
