And the battlefield is not just the internet—it’s the hearts and minds of millions of Filipinos,” Deputy Speaker David Suarez said. The House leader was reacting to a wire agency report alleging that inauthentic accounts flooded social media with praise for former President Rodrigo Duterte and are now actively shaping the online conversation about the upcoming polls. The weaponization of disinformation to mislead, misinform and manipulate voters is one of the gravest threats to our democracy today,” said Suarez, who represents the second district of Quezon province. For his part, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales, Jr., called for a nationwide effort to protect Filipino voters from digital deception, citing a report that fake social media accounts were used to defend Duterte and are now being deployed to manipulate online discourse ahead of the 2025 midterm elections. Gonzales urged the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to launch a joint national digital literacy program to help students and the public identify and resist coordinated disinformation campaigns. Read Full Story
