Senatorial candidate and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay on Friday called for improved law enforcement efforts to combat fake news and online scams, stressing that the lack of accountability emboldens perpetrators.

Speaking at a press conference of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas in Trece Martires, Cavite, Binay underscored the difficulty of apprehending those responsible for spreading disinformation and committing online fraud.

“More than just the legislation, what matters to all of us is the frustration over catching those who create fake news and spread false information,” she said in English and Filipino.

Binay noted that many perpetrators feel untouchable due to slow or ineffective enforcement.

“These people are bold because they think, ‘I won’t get caught,’ or ‘it’ll take a long time before I’m caught,’” she said.

She added that even individuals running online money scams often evade arrest, making it even more difficult to pursue those behind disinformation campaigns.

“If we can’t even find those who scam people out of their money, how much harder is it to find those who spread fake news?” Binay said.

The mayor urged the national government to provide law enforcement agencies with better training and tools to identify and track down those responsible for creating and sharing disinformation.

“We need to strengthen our police force and help them learn how to trace these fake content creators and actually arrest them,” she said.

For Binay, effective enforcement is essential in sending a strong message to offenders.

“My view is that we need enforcement. We need to arrest people and make an example of them so the public sees that we mean business. People need to straighten up. That’s the message we must send,” she added.

If elected to the Senate, Binay said she would support efforts to enhance the enforcement capabilities of authorities and ensure that those responsible for fake news and scams are held accountable.