The Philippines is now being divided as a nation because of the continued spread of fake news online, the country's chief communicator said on Friday, March 21.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Chief Jay Ruiz expressed sadness over this as he addressed the issue of online disinformation, misinformation, and fake news during the House tri-committee (tri-tri-comm) inquiry.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/21/fake-news-sowing-division-among-pinoys-pco-chief
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Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Chief Jay Ruiz expressed sadness over this as he addressed the issue of online disinformation, misinformation, and fake news during the House tri-committee (tri-tri-comm) inquiry.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/21/fake-news-sowing-division-among-pinoys-pco-chief
Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin
Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin
Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin
#ManilaBulletinOnline
#ManilaBulletin
#LatestNews
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NewsTranscript
00:00The issue of fake news, illegal gambling, deep fakes, pornography, hate speech is the
00:12biggest fight right now of our generation.
00:15It destroys the very fabric of our society and we have to protect our children not only
00:20from fake news but all these bad things that we see in this technology platform that we
00:28have.
00:29But more on the bloggers, we should concentrate our regulation on the platforms.
00:37The platforms like Meta, TikTok, YouTube are foreign platforms.
00:45They do not have a base here.
00:47When you complain for these posts that we can take down, it takes a long time.
00:55So we have to focus on the platforms first of all to self-regulate them.
01:01If you want self-regulation or maybe come up with an operational system between the
01:06PCO, DOJ, and the DICT to identify these fake posts, to identify fake information.
01:19You see what's happening to us is we are being divided online, it's very polarized,
01:26and yet it's Filipinos and Filipinos fighting each other.
01:31It is not good for our country to see our countrymen being divided by hate speech, by
01:39pornography that's very easily accessed by our generation.
01:47You know I was talking to the West Philippine Sea earlier about communicating the West Philippine
01:52Sea issue to our countrymen.
01:55I said never again, never again that the Philippines will lose any part of our country just like
02:03what happened in Sabah.
02:06In the Sabah issue in the 1960s, if you look at it, Sabah was owned by the Royal Sultanate
02:10of Sulu for a long time.
02:11The Malaysians were paying rent to the Philippines.
02:17We tried to get it and claim it as our own.
02:22But what did the Malaysians do to us?
02:25They pitted Filipinos against Filipinos.
02:29They supported a Muslim secessionist movement in the South using religion and race against
02:38each other.
02:39Filipino Christians, Filipino Muslims fighting each other.
02:42So eventually, because they divided us and eventually conquered part of our territory,
02:50we lost Sabah.
02:53And imagine if Sabah is like as rich as Mindanao, even probably richer than Mindanao.
03:01The Petronas Towers were built because of the minerals and properties of Sabah.
03:05It's happening again.
03:08This is happening, but now a foreign actor using fake news to destroy each other.
03:15So what we want on the PCO side, we urge Congress to join our digital crusade against combating
03:22fake news by strengthening our laws such as the Cyber Crime Prevention Act and introducing
03:30intentionally internationally accepted policies and standards for content moderation on social
03:35media.
03:36I respectfully encourage our honorable lawmakers to consider the framework of the Digital Services
03:43Act, a recently adopted EU regulation which prevents illegal and harmful activities online
03:50and the spread of disinformation while still ensuring that the freedom of expression is
03:57upheld.
03:58The danger right now, sir, the greater danger right now, aside from fake news, is deep fake,
04:04wherein you put a person's face on another person.
04:08There were several complaints raised with the PCO that said, sir, look, there are known
04:16personalities recruiting on advertising, scams.
04:22Our OFWs are being scammed because the voice of a known personality or a known businessman
04:30was included.
04:31But that's not true.
04:34Even if you put the head of the Comalee Commissioner there, who said, you know, it's deep fake
04:40too.
04:41It is a national security concern that we really have to fight, not against each other,
04:50but collectively, we fight together, we fight as one, because you know, the fight against
04:58fake news should be prioritized.
05:05We said before, right, it was the fight against illegal drugs.
05:08But in this generation, the fight against fake news, deep fakes, they bring so many
05:15social media ills.
05:17Look, we now live in two worlds, the cyber world and the real world.
05:27The children right now spend more time on the cyber world, and if you give them constant
05:33disinformation, if you give them constant lies and negative news, what will happen to
05:38the next generation of Filipinos?
05:41We will forever be divided, just like what's happening in the United States.
05:45It's now happening in our country.
05:48It's so hard now to reach out to the yellows, to the greens, to the reds, or wherever political
05:54camp you belong to.
05:58What we need to do is to unite.
06:01Look at what happened, example, to Congressman Rodante Marcoleta, pinagbumura siya, nilait-lait
06:08ang kanyang religion, tama ba yun?
06:11And yet there's no regulation.
06:14There's no regulation, there's no punishment.
06:17So on the part of PCO, we're trying to come up with an operational system.
06:23Wherein the DICT, the Department of Justice, and PCO should come up together to take down
06:30all these posts we consider national security concerns, and posts that divide Filipinos
06:38and spreading fake news, and also the fight against illegal online gambling on the internet.
06:47It's not just fake news.
06:49There's so many ills there.
06:50But of course, with technology, there's good and there's bad.
06:56It can be a force of good.
06:58But we make sure that online, the voice of truth should be louder than lies.
07:05It should always be louder than lies.
07:07Because now, a lie told a thousand times drowns out the truth.
07:14We don't know what the truth is anymore.
07:16So we make sure here, as PCO, we make sure that in PCO, our foundations are truthful
07:24facts.
07:25I urge everybody here, let's get our acts together.
07:30We are not the enemies.
07:33We should stand together.
07:36The enemy is fake news.