A fellow Duterte administration Cabinet official filed a disbarment case against former presidential spokesman Harry Roque for his alleged “fake news” posts on social media.
“He is a friend and this has nothing to do with politics or personal…Hopefully this will provide an opportunity for the court to give guidelines on how officers of the court can use social media,” said Melvin Matibag, acting Cabinet Secretary of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Matibag was also a former secretary-general of Duterte’s political party, PDP-Laban.
He said the case stemmed from Roque’s reposting of a viral video that showed a person who looked like President Marcos sniffing alleged illegal drugs.
“It has been established as fake news, fake evidence,” Matibag said.
Roque, for his part, downplayed the disbarment case against him as “a desperate act of attention.” Roque said in a statement.
“We have to understand that the posting of the video in social media is protected by free speech under the privileged doctrine… The authenticity and the content of the video deserve widespread discussion,” Roque said.
Acting Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cesar Chavez earlier said experts in digital media and artificial intelligence (AI) debunked the authenticity of the viral video that circulated in July.
The Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), part of the India-based Misinformation Combat Alliance, found the video that circulated a day before the President’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) was heavily manipulated.
Independent fact-checking organization Vera Files verified the results and confirmed the video was a deepfake designed to discredit the President.
Roque is also facing an arrest order issued by the House Quad Committee in connection with its probe on illegal POGOs.
The House mega panel cited him for contempt for failing to submit subpoenaed documents crucial to the investigation, including his tax records and Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), noting the “overwhelming circumstantial evidence” linking Roque to the raided POGO hub in Porac, Pampanga.
Roque’s daughter on Monday filed a petition for a writ of amparo against the House hearing.
The Roque family-owned Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc. leased their property to fugitive Cambodian Sun Liming and his Chinese partner, Wang Keping, both allegedly engaged in financial scams victimizing investors in China.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers noted the “sudden increase of (Roque’s) wealth, from P125,000 in 2016, to P125 million in 2018.”
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