Robredo refutes 'fake news' that her office sent spoiled food to QC hospital
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 5:27 p.m.) — Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday refuted the claims of social media users that her office sent spoiled food to a hospital in Quezon City.
In a Facebook post, Robredo asked the public to report a “fake news peddler who is trying to skip liability with his ‘confirm if possible’ line.”
She attached screenshots of social media posts alleging she donated spoiled food to a hospital and asked her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, to apologize on her behalf. The hospital personnel were also told to supposedly keep quiet on the incident.
“This never happened. I never went to this hospital,” Robredo said, adding that they have been sending hot meals donated by private individuals and no complaints have reached them.
“If there was no malice, you should have checked first before posting. You should know that posting fake news makes you criminally liable,” the vice president warned.
She asked other social media users to take screenshots of fake news posts on Facebook and Twitter “because we will go after them.”
Philstar.com reached out to the hospital where the alleged food poisoning happened for comment but they hung up after initially referring us to different departments to call.
The hospital has since issued an official statement on the rumor, saying it had received food donations from the OVP three times, "none of which have been found to be spoiled."
It also said that neither Gutierrez nor anyone from the OVP "surfaced in our hospital to offer any monetary payoff."
Diliman Doctors Hospital added that it would have been an honor for the vice president to visit their facility.
This is not the first time that the vice president was subjected to a fake news post.
In January, at the height of Taal Volcano eruption, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Deputy Executive Director Mocha Uson posted a screenshot of a Facebook user claiming Robredo only donated five pieces of pandesal and a bottle of water to evacuees.
In 2018, Robredo said she would start addressing lies being told about her her after a Manila Times columnist claimed that she and other members of the Liberal Party had met with German members of the European Parliament during a trip to Berlin.
She said then: "I’ve held my peace before, trusting that truth will prevail. We can no longer let lies go unchallenged. So bring it on."
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