Cambridge Analytica issue: Palace says Duterte won fair and square

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC

President Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 elections fair and square, Malacañang said Tuesday, dismissing speculations that the chief executive benefited from the improper sharing of data of Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook had earlier said that 1.2 million Filipinos were among 87 million users worldwide whose data was “improperly shared” by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm.

“The President won the election fair and square with an overwhelming mandate of over 16 million votes and a margin of over six million,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

Roque said “support for the former Davao City mayor was from all sectors and not just from Facebook or online; thus, the Duterte campaign did not have to purchase information.”

“The Secretary of Finance, in his capacity as treasurer of the PRRD campaign, assures that he did not pay anything to Cambridge Analytica nor did he transact with them,” he said.

“We should respect the President’s landslide victory, which was a result of the trust and confidence of the Filipino people, and not undermine it with unsubstantiated allegations,” he added. /jpv

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