Vice presidential candidate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III. Photo from Lacson-Sotto media bureau
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday decried the use of legitimate media organizations to publish “fake news” as he corrected news reports that the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) has endorsed the candidacy of a rival vice presidential aspirant.
Sotto, who is gunning for the second top elective post in the country, said the NPC, of which he is the chairman, remains solid behind his candidacy.
“While regional and/or provincial chapters may have their preferred list of candidates, such choices do not reflect the NPC as a national coalition of political allies and people’s groups. News about the support of our entire organization, with an emphasis that I chair the NPC, is an unacceptable and desperate move to optimize lies and exaggerated optics,” he stressed.
Sotto was reacting to a news article that came out in a newspaper stating that the NPC has endorsed the candidacies of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who are running for president and vice president, respectively, in the May 9 polls.
While the head of the news story suggested that the endorsement was of national application, the content showed that the statement of support was made only by the Tarlac provincial chapter of the political party.
READ: Bongbong Marcos-Sara Duterte tandem gets Tarlac guv’s backing
Sotto said that “it is disappointing how a reputable news organization can spin a local/provincial story and twist it in favor of certain candidates by using a misleading title/head… We should not allow this to continue to happen, lest the freedom of the press that the Filipino people value gets misused and abused.”
Sotto said that while the NPC has yet to officially endorse any presidential candidate, it is solidly backing his vice-presidential bid.
READ: Sotto assured of NPC support, leadership
“Let me make this clear: the Nationalist People’s Coalition has not endorsed any presidential candidate. The late Danding Cojuangco founded NPC. It is a dishonor to his name and legacy to support another party to gain personal favors,” he said.