Digong, allies accused of being 'fake news factory, super villains'

Administration lawmakers on Monday took up cudgels for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. against the latest criticisms from his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, including insinuations that Marcos might declare martial law to extend his stay in power.

House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V accused Duterte and his allies of being a “factory of fake news,” alleging that they continuously fabricate stories to promote their Senate slate at the expense of the current administration.

Ortega’s remarks supported Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin’s response to Duterte, calling the former president a “one-man fake-news factory” for claiming that Marcos is veering toward dictatorship like his father, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.

"I'm leaning towards that statement that they are like a factory of fake news. Even their data, even their rallies, it's like literally a factory of fake news," Ortega said in Filipino during a briefing.

"Then when people hold them accountable, they will suddenly switch over and say it's a joke, it's just a joke… I don't know what should we call them. They appear like they are super villains," the La Union lawmaker added.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, meanwhile, emphasized that Marcos, despite being the target of verbal assaults and threats from Duterte, has not retaliated — proof, he said, that Duterte’s accusations are baseless.

"Are you even a dictator if it was you who gets cursed? Threatened to exhume [the remains of] your father and then throw him in WPS (West Philippines Sea)? Threaten your life, your wife?" Adiong pointed out in Filipino.

“He respects the separation of powers… He allows all the agencies to work according to its mandates. That’s not an indication, or that’s not even an attribute of a dictator, right? he added.

The Mindanaoan solon also argued that the policies of the Marcos administration stand in stark contrast to those under Duterte, during which critics were silenced, removed from key posts, or jailed on trumped-up charges.

While Adiong did not name anyone, it can be recalled that former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was ousted, and former senator Leila de Lima was imprisoned on criminal charges after being critical of Duterte.

Over the weekend, Bersamin criticized Duterte for spreading falsehoods aimed at sowing discord and discrediting the current administration.

"It is the leader of that troubled past who is depicting us as veering toward a system where anyone can be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law, as many had been on his mere say-so as a tyrant who did not respect the rights of the people,” Bersamin asserted.

“We will not backslide into the oppressive ways of the previous administration, when critics were jailed on trumped-up charges and when kill orders were publicly issued with glee and obeyed blindly," he added.

Following the fallout between the Marcos and Duterte camps, the former president has repeatedly taken jabs at Marcos, calling him “stoned” and an “addict.”

Marcos, however, dismissed the remarks as a side effect of Duterte’s use of fentanyl.