De Lima hits more fake news against her

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima denounced anew the resurgence of misleading content and fake news stories that are part of a well-oiled and well-orchestrated campaign to discredit her.

De Lima said the makers and purveyors of fake news have again been working double time to spread fake news against her as she continues to receive support from the international community, particularly from US senators.

“After the passage into law of the United States 2020 Appropriations Bill, which includes an amendment imposing an entry ban to government officials responsible for my wrongful imprisonment, there has been a resurgence of fake news against me, including false narratives and misleading headlines,” she said.

“These evil men and women who resort to the use of social media to spread outright lies and propagate hate speech online will stop at nothing to propel their political agendas to greater heights,” she added.

Recently, pro-Duterte pages are using various social media platforms, including Facebook, to share and re-share the link of an old YouTube video that ran a misleading headline implying that De Lima tolerates prison gangs who are exerting control over the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Uploaded by pro-Duterte YouTube channel “Duterte Latest News” three years ago, the video’s headline read: “Full story of Gangs control Bilibid prison in Manila with blessing of Leila de Lima.”

De Lima said upon careful fact-checking, the video was actually the 2013 documentary produced by Discovery Channel entitled “Inside the Gangster’s code,” showing ex-mafia insider Lou Ferrante revealing the untold secrets of prison gang culture, including his meeting with the world’s most ruthless prison gangs.

She said the trailer of the documentary series was originally uploaded on YouTube channel of Discovery UK with the title “Gang Boss Conference – The Philippines – Inside the Gangster Code.”

De Lima, the first prominent political prisoner under the Duterte administration, pointed out that the purveyors of fake news are re-sharing the link to the old video in a desperate attempt to damage her reputation.