Gov’t officials spreading disinformation irresponsible - Malacañang

Metro Manila, Philippines - Government officials dabbling in disinformation are irresponsible, Malacañang said on Monday, June 16.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro commented on the move of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to share an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte on social media platform Facebook.

Castro said disinformation should not come from government officials.

“Kung ginamit lang naman ang kanilang mga talino para alamin kung ang kanilang she-share ay mali, disinformation, or just AI-generated videos, 'di ka na kinakailangang mag-apologize kung una pa lang tama na ang inyong ginawa,” Castro said when asked if officials should apologize over false information.

[Translation: If they just used their intelligence to determine if what they are sharing contains disinformation or are AI-generated, they do not need to apologize in the first place.]

“Ngayon na ginawa po nila - at wala tayong magagawa du'n - dapat lang po nilang i-acknowledge na ang ipinasa nila na video ay hindi totoo at hindi tunay,” she added.

[Translation: Now that they have done it - and we cannot do anything about it - they should acknowledge that what they shared was false.]

In sharing another Facebook post on impeachment, dela Rosa said he does not care if the content is AI-generated as he is after the message.

“Please don’t shoot the messenger without reading the message that he delivers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Castro debunked again the vice president’s remark over the weekend, in which the latter said the Palace official is related to ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, a critic of the Duterte family.

“Nagiging source of fake news or disinformation na po ang ating bise presidente, at hindi ito maganda para sa kanya bilang pangalawang nakakataas na lider ng bansa,” Castro said.

[Translation: Our vice president is becoming the source of fake news or disinformation, and this does not look good for her as the country’s second highest leader.]

The undersecretary said there may be penalties for spreading disinformation, but did not mention whether there will be cases filed.

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Daniza Fernandez contributed to this report.