MANILA, Philippines — Laban ng Masa on Thursday called on the public to report Facebook pages that it said were pretending to be supporters of labor leader Leody de Guzman, the coalition's standard-bearer.
"These pages are clearly being operated by online troll armies as they have been posting misleading fake news articles all at the same time," the coalition said in separate posts on Facebook and Twitter on Thursday.
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It identified five Facebook pages linking themselves to De Guzman:
- Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters (with 580 likes as of writing)
According to the page transparency feature on Facebook, it was created on July 17, 2021 and was previously named “Bente Bente.” The page is said to be primarily managed by five individuals based in the Philippines. It is currently classified as an “entertainment website.”
The page’s photo archives show that the page was used for online games, enticing the public to play its “Gems Game” where can people can allegedly win up to P5,000 with just five pesos. It uploaded a site maintenance notice on October 12, 2021, which was also the last photo uploaded by the page while named "Bente Bente."
It was renamed to “Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters'' on March 21 this year. The page uploaded a photo of De Guzman at 5 p.m. on that day and within an hour, it started sharing edited photos and misleading articles on other presidential candidates.
- Ka Leody - Visayas Support (with 346 likes and 359 followers as of writing)
It was originally named “Video Built” after a video-editing website when it was created on July 15, 2015. Like the previous page, it was renamed on March 21 this year.
There was no information on the individuals in charge of managing the page. Meanwhile, the contact number provided on its about page could not be contacted for a call.
The page has made posts against other presidential aspirants Vice President Leni Robredo, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and Sen. Manny Pacquiao. It recently shared a post by “Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters” on an alleged plan to cheat the elections.
- Ka Leody Supporters 2022 (with 85 likes and followers as of writing)
The page was created on March 19 and is currently classified as a “nonprofit organization.” It does not have an about page and there is no note on who is the individual or what groups are behind the Facebook page.
Aside from sharing stories against other presidential candidates, mostly against Robredo, the page also shares the posts made by “ “Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters.” Most posts related to De Guzman’s bid for presidency were made in the first week of the page’s existence.
- Ka Leody Support - BICOL (with 893 likes and 925 followers as of writing)
The page was originally named “Maids Provider” when it was created over a decade ago on November 3, 2010. Its first post was made on November 5 that year, explaining that the people who were then behind the page were offering services for people looking for house help, nannies, caregivers, and drivers.
It then changed its name to “Ka Leody Support - BICOL” on March 21, the same day “Ka Leody - Visayas Support” and “Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters” were renamed. It is currently classified as a page for “Cleaning Service” and “Public & Government Service.”
Like the previously mentioned pages, “Ka Leody Support - Bicol” also shares posts that are against other presidential aspirants.
- Ka Leodycakes Natin Support (with 34 likes and 37 followers as of writing)
Meanwhile, this page was created two weeks ago on March 23. There were no details on who is running the page.
Its posts on De Guzman’s campaign were mostly made on its first week online. Majority of its recent posts are against Robredo and it also frequently reposts “Ka Lodi Sakalam Supporters.”
"Our coalition condemns the use of Ka Leody De Guzman's name and untarnished reputation to the detriment of other candidates. We do not tolerate fake news and misinformation peddling," Laban ng Masa said.
Unfazed by survey results
De Guzman ranked ninth among the ten presidential candidates in the latest pre-election survey released by Pulse Asia Research on Wednesday.
However, the coalition’s Partido Lakas ng Masa on Thursday said that they remain unaffected by survey results. Instead, it encourages their campaign to reach out to more labor workers and the masses.
They said surveys have limitations because they are commissioned by politicians to monitor only their “strong” candidates.
"Hindi maliwanag ang mga tanong at ayon sa ilang na-survey, biased ang mga tanong sa kandidatong gusto nilang i-promote," PLM, which is the political party led by De Guzman, said in a statement.
(The questions were unclear and according to some respondents, the questions were biased to the candidate they wish to promote.)
PLM also said it does not have the same campaign budget compared with other candidates.
It emphasized the need for a “trustworthy agency” not paid by any group or individual to conduct surveys on the elections, pointing out that the UP School of Statistics can be mobilized for the pre-election polls.
The party said it has no plans to back down, but instead it will continue to put forward the interests of labor workers in the upcoming elections. — Kaycee Valmonte