Vico Sotto eyes suit vs. well-funded campaign disinformation

Metro Manila, Philippines - Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said he is considering legal action against those behind coordinated online disinformation efforts that targeted him in the election period.

“Yes, we are definitely looking into legal actions against the people behind this,” Sotto told NewsWatch Plus in an interview with “The Newsmaker,” citing troll farms, fake accounts, and false claims that circulated online.

“We saw, you know, there were several. I think I posted about this one time. I saw an ordinary post that had 3,000 shares. So I looked into it and then I saw that the shares were mostly fake accounts or troll accounts,” he added.

Sotto acknowledged the challenges in identifying those behind anonymous accounts.

[Translation: It’s really difficult to find them, it’s hard to go after them.]

Sotto said the disinformation campaign included fake posts that were widely shared across Facebook groups nationwide, from motorcycle groups in Batangas to buy-and-sell pages in Puerto Princesa, Palawan — many of which were shared by suspected troll accounts.

“Obvious na obvious… That only means someone is spending for it,” he said, adding that the attacks appeared organized and well-funded.

[Translation: It was so obvious... That only means someone is financing this.]

The Pasig mayor noted that while he initially preferred to ignore online attacks to avoid amplifying false narratives, the scale and persistence of the disinformation prompted him and his team to actively counter it. He said their efforts seemed effective, as more Filipinos have become critical of what they see on social media.

“Medyo namumulat na rin tayo bilang social media users… pag may nakita tayo, hindi ibig sabihin na totoo kaagad yan,” he said.

[Translation: We’re slowly becoming more aware as social media users... just because we see something doesn’t mean it’s immediately true.]

Sotto previously said a petition for disqualification had been filed against him by Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya II, a nominee of the Pinoy A.K.O. party-list. The petition accused Sotto of spreading "misinformation" about Discaya’s alleged use of a British passport in relation to his candidacy.

Sotto denied the allegation, saying his remarks were based on Philippine election laws, which prohibit candidates from pledging allegiance to a foreign state. He said the issue stemmed from reports that Discaya allegedly used a British passport in 2025, which could violate the rule on continued allegiance to the Philippines.

He also clarified that although he had the information since January, he did not file any case.

“I did not want anyone disqualified. I just want voters to have full information,” Sotto said in a Facebook post.

Despite disinformation efforts, Sotto said his administration will remain committed to transparency and reform, but warned that such attacks are likely to continue.

“When we have changes and reforms, there will really be those who will oppose it,” he said. “This is expected — so we have to be ready and on guard all the time,” he said.