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For the second time since 1972, the government shut down broadcast network ABS-CBN, displacing more than 11,000 workers at a time the country is grappling with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that is taking a heavy toll on the economy.

Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque contradicted Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año when he said there will be no “house-to-house” operations to look for individuals infected with COVID-19.

At least one Facebook (FB) page and three netizens, including singer and vocal administration critic Jim Paredes, published a fake quote card that shows Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go saying media giant ABS-CBN should not have “hurt President Rodrigo Duterte’s feelings” if it did not want to get shut down.

After the committee on legislative franchises of the House of Representatives rejected ABS-CBN’s bid for a new 25-year franchise, some lawmakers still wanted an investigation of the network’s blocktime agreement with AMCARA Broadcasting Network.

Over 500 members of media across platforms from different parts of the Philippines banded together to condemn the denial of a franchise to broadcast giant ABS-CBN based on the legislators “whim” and ignorance of the role of media in a democratic society.

As petitions contesting the newly enacted Anti-Terror Law pile up, President Rodrigo Duterte went from tagging communists as the country’s “number one threat” to saying they are the “least” of its worries.

The furor over the 70-11 vote by the House committee on legislative franchises on July 10 to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN broadcast network mirrors a recent survey result showing a majority of Filipinos giving importance to independent journalism and keeping politicians in check.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque repeated the false claim of his predecessor Salvador Panelo that President Rodrigo Duterte has remained "neutral" on ABS-CBN's franchise renewal.

In justifying his recent “side trip” to the Ocean Adventure park in Subic, Zambales, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque falsely claimed he did not violate any health and quarantine regulations.

President Rodrigo Duterte made two inaccurate claims on the government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response and the world’s history of past pandemics.

When asked to clarify some discrepancies in the numbers on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque insisted on inaccurate data he earlier presented to the media and erroneously said those were for member-states of the Western Pacific region of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu inaccurately claimed that the Philippines was a commonwealth of the United States (U.S) when the Spanish flu ravaged the world in 1918.