DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 9 May) – Former Anakpawis representative Ariel Casilao said they will file charges against individuals responsible for spreading a “fake resolution” of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) claiming that the poll body has disqualified the party list groups under the Makabayan Bloc and senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares.
In a virtual press conference streamed live on Facebook on Sunday, Casilao urged COMELEC to find out the identity of the individuals who were spreading misinformation that targeted the Makabayan Bloc, which undermines the integrity of the agency as the “falsified document” showed the forged signatures of some of its commissioners.
The COMELEC clarified that it did not release any resolution disqualifying any of them from the party list election.
“There is information being spread that there is a resolution disqualifying certain party list organizations, including a senatorial candidate. It’s fake news. It’s not true, there’s no such resolution,” said Casilao.
He said progressive party list groups have been the subject of online attacks, including red-tagging, since 2016.
He said that Anakpawis has no pending disqualification case with the COMELEC.
For his part, Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate believed that the intention of spreading a fake COMELEC resolution was to derail the victory of the progressive party list groups, including the candidacy of Colmenares, presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
He accused the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as the group behind the spread of misinformation on social media.
“They should investigate this because this will undermine not only the conduct of party list election but the entire election process. How many more COMELEC resolutions that can be forged? This needs serious investigation and hold them responsible for this desperate action that intends to derail the victory and reelection of party list groups under the Makabayan bloc,” he said.
Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas said the Makabayan Bloc has condemned the spread of the fake news, saying that COMELEC cleared the groups after it dismissed a disqualification case filed against them by a certain Angela Aguilar in 2019 “for want of evidence.”
She said Aguilar did not even show up before the poll body to substantiate her complaints against the party list groups. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
