MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian (SEA) Games lead organizer and House Speaker Alan Cayetano on Friday said they have identified four social media groups that are “intentionally sabotaging” the regional sports meet.
“Meron talaga na kasalanan natin, pero marami rin talaga are miscommunication o kaya nadali rin talaga ng fake news. And as I said, after ng SEA Games, ire-reveal namin kasi na-trace namin ang apat na grupo na talagang intentionally sinasabotahe ang SEA Games,” the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc) Foundation Inc. chair said in an interview on the sidelines of the bicameral conference committee meeting on the proposed 2020 national budget in Makati.
(We’ve committed mistakes in the hosting, but a lot of the mess are also results of miscommunication or fake news. And as I said, after the SEA Games, we will reveal the four groups that are intentionally sabotaging the SEA Games.)
Although they have yet to identify the individuals behind the groups, the pro-administration Taguig-Pateros representative said he believes the motive was political. He also repeated his earlier warning that they might file libel and cyber libel cases against individuals who propagated fake news about the competition’s hosting.
“So pakiusap ko lang sa mga grupong ‘yun (Our appeal to these groups), you know, you can hate the Duterte administration, you can hate Alan Cayetano, but don’t hate your own country,” the House leader said.
Cayetano further clarified that he was not accusing the media of sabotaging the SEA Games.
“Kaya nga sabi ko, and this is truthful, some of my friends sa media approached me at sinabi ‘sir umaagos ang pera pero hindi namin tinatanggap kasi it’s not about politics, it’s about the country. And kahit sa internet makikita mo umaagos ang pera kasi binu-boost eh,” the congressman said.
(That’s why I said, and this is truthful, some of my friends from media approached me and said ‘sir some are trying to bribe us but we’re refusing because this is not about politics, it’s about the country.’ And even in the internet you’ll see the amount of money being circulated because they are boosting some posts.)
“Pati nga sa participants ng SEA Games eh, parang nagpapahiwatig sa kanila na ‘we’ll take care of you pwede nyo bang banatan ‘to?’ ganyan ganyan, so it’s an operation,” he added.