Honasan denies withdrawing from race

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Gregorio Honasan yesterday condemned a last-ditch effort to discredit his bid for re-election.

Honasan branded as “vicious” the move of his detractors who were behind a letter informing the public of his supposed withdrawal from the Senate race.

The letter was circulated through the official email account of the Senate’s public relations and information bureau (PRIB).

Honasan, who is running under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), said he has no reason to withdraw from the race on the eve of elections.

Posting his denial on his official Twitter and Facebook accounts, he said he was “amazed” by the innovativeness of the propaganda operators.  

“I am so surprised at the viciousness. The letter seems to be so authentic that even Senate President (Juan Ponce) Enrile called me up to confirm if it’s true. I categorically deny that I am withdrawing,” Honasan said.

He also challenged his detractors to face him rather than hide under anonymous mails.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto has ordered a probe into the alleged use of the official account of the Senate PRIB for the dissemination of Honasan’s fake letter.

“I will call for an investigation of the PRIB. Why are they involving themselves in black propaganda? Heads must roll,” Sotto said.

He added that Honasan can turn the black propaganda into an opportunity.

“It’s a blessing in disguise because campaigning is already prohibited. All he has to do now since he can no longer plug or campaign is to announce on radio, etc. that it’s not true,” Sotto said.

Meanwhile, PRIB head Raymond Corro denounced the unauthorized use of the bureau’s official account to churn out the misleading press release.

In a statement, Corro said the PRIB has not authorized such issuance but it did not identify the culprit or if it is conducting an investigation into the incident.

“It has come to our attention that someone used our official email address [email protected] and sent out a grossly misleading press release entitled ‘Gringo: I am withdrawing from the senatorial race,’” Corro said.

“This press release is false. We highly condemn the unauthorized use of PRIB’s email address and reiterate that Sen. Gringo Honasan is not withdrawing from the senatorial race,” Corro said.

A scrutiny of the email showed a warning that the message “may have not been sent by prib.fb.gmail.com,” encouraging the recipients to report “phishing,” a form of fraud which attempts to trick senders. 

Migz a victim, too

Meanwhile, the camp of former senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri also denied yesterday issuing a press release attacking Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III.

Zubiri condemned those behind the bogus press release and asked the National Bureau of Investigation cybercrime unit to immediately investigate the incident.

“This is an obvious last-minute black propaganda against Migz to destroy his integrity,” a member of Zubiri’s team said.

– With Edith Regalado