Marcos behind smear campaign vs Aika? Spox tells VP Robredo: ‘Enough of your deceptions’

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. accused Vice President Leni Robredo of “deceiving” the public after the latter expressed beliefs that the malicious rumors about one of her daughters originated from the Marcos side.

Atty. Vic Rodriguez, the spokesperson of Marcos, made the remark after Robredo said she believes that the deluge of fake information about her and her family—including the fake lewd videos of the vice president’s daughter Aika—came from the Marcos camp.

READ: ‘Walang masabing maganda tungkol sa kanila’: Robredo says Marcos camp ‘resorting to fake news’

Robredo and Marcos are the two frontrunners in the upcoming presidential elections.

“Mrs. Robredo and her yellow crew can no longer deceive the Filipino people as we have all been awakened from their propaganda of lies, falsehood and politics of deception,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

“In the spirit of lent, I admonish you not to pass on to us your brand of fake, hateful, negative and gutter politics,” he added.

Rodriguez claimed that Marcos has based his campaign on his call for unity, which has been a consistent message in the presidential candidate’s campaign speeches.

“Presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos has based his campaign solely on his call for unity anchored on the strengths and merits of his vision and platform for the future of our country, especially the youth that has resonated throughout the land and we shall keep it that way until the very end,” Rodriguez said.

“Enough of your deceptions,” he added.

Asked in a Viber message if he is categorically denying the allegations made by Robredo, Rodriguez did not reply.

In response to Rodriguez remarks, Robredo’s spokesperson Atty. Barry Gutierrez said they “do not expect sympathy or concern from the Marcos camp” regarding what happened to Aika.

“We do not expect sympathy or concern from the Marcos camp; for all their claims of ‘positive campaigning’ they have long demonstrated they have none,” Gutierrez said.

“But it reveals a lot about who they are that barely 24 hours after a crime was committed against VP Leni’s family, here they are, in full attack mode, adding insult upon insult on what is already the most unjust of injuries,” he added.

READ: Robredo warns netizens of fake account masquerading as her daughter

According to Robredo, the situation was similar to the 2016 vice presidential elections when her and Marcos faced off. Robredo eventually won the said vice presidential polls.

Preliminary findings of Tsek.ph , an academe-based fact-checking initiative, showed that Marcos is the beneficiary of positive but misleading messaging on social media ahead of the 2022 national elections. The findings were released in February.

Meanwhile, Tsek.ph found that Robredo is the “biggest victim” of disinformation.

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