Gov’t to file raps vs fake news on Marcos health — PCO

The government is set to file criminal charges against individuals behind the spread of false claims about the health of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Monday.

PCO Secretary Dave Gomez said authorities detected a surge of misleading social media posts over the weekend, prompting intensified efforts to identify those responsible.

“Nakita namin na nagkaroon ng spike sa posting ng mga misinformation and fake news regarding the health of the President,” Gomez said.

He said the government’s anti-disinformation task force is now building cases against those involved.

“We are currently compiling all the pieces of evidence, and hopefully within the week, papangalanan na namin ang source ng fake news at sasampahan na namin ng reklamo,” he added.

The move is part of “Oplan Fake News,” a coordinated initiative involving the Department of Justice and the Department of Information and Communications Technology to monitor, investigate, and prosecute the spread of false information, including deepfakes.

Gomez said the campaign aims to hold accountable those who deliberately spread fabricated content that could mislead the public or undermine governance.

“This week we’re putting together all the pieces of evidence para handa na kami magsampa ng reklamo para may solid na batayan,” he said.

The crackdown follows earlier complaints filed by the PCO before the Department of Justice against administrators of a social media page accused of spreading false information about the country’s energy situation.

Gomez said the PCO has stepped up monitoring of online platforms to counter coordinated disinformation campaigns.