House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms chair Zia Alonto Adiong on Friday warned that deepfakes, trolls and fake news could again proliferate online as the House of Representatives moves forward with impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.

The Lanao del Sur lawmaker said he had expected disinformation campaigns to surface as public attention intensifies on the proceedings.

“Ako ine-xpect ko na ’yan. In fact ako ay binibiro ng mga kasamahan ko, sabi ko sige na lang at least nakakatulong din tayo dun sa mga walang trabaho kasi nabibigyan sila ng pera para maging trolls,” Adiong said in an ambush interview with reporters.

The impeachment complaints against Duterte are now being tackled by the House Committee on Justice after the panel found them sufficient in form and substance, setting the stage for the next phases of the process.

Adiong said the spread of manipulated content and misleading narratives online has become part of the current political landscape, but stressed that the public must remain vigilant in evaluating what they see on social media.

“Ine-expect ko na ’yan kasi ganyan talaga ang kalakaran ngayon. Pero ang atin lang, tayo din sa publiko kailangan maging discerning tayo, maging mas mapanuri, maging mas maingat at mas masusi ang ating pag-appreciate sa ating mga nakikita online kasi karamihan po diyan ay hindi tama at hindi totoo,” he said.

He also noted that he was surprised by the level of support for the proceedings at the committee level, where the panel recorded 54 votes.

“Let’s see, let’s see. But again I was surprised in the committee level kasi fifty four ‘yung boto. I was really surprised,” Adiong said.

“Let’s see. Pero it’s a good indication. It’s a good and it’s a positive indication that the required number might possibly within the reach,” he added.

Under House rules, the impeachment process requires the support of at least one-third of all members before a complaint can be transmitted to the Senate for trial.