MANILA, Philippines — Pinabulaanan ni Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte nitong Huwebes ang balitang pumanaw na umano ang kanyang ama na si dating House Speaker Sonny Belmonte.
Ito ay matapos kumalat ng ilang art card kung saan nakasaad na yumao na raw ang kanyang 85 anyos na ama na siyang aniya'y buhay at nasa maayos na kalagayan.
"There are false reports circulating online that my father, former Quezon City Mayor and Speaker of the House of Representatives Sonny Sb Belmonte, has passed away. There is absolutely no truth to this alleged 'Breaking News' item. By God's Grace, my father is alive, well, and in good spirits," paglilinaw niya sa isang paskil.
"I would like to thank those who expressed concern, and took the time to verify if the reports were true or not. I can assure everyone that my Dad is perfectly healthy," pagpapatuloy niya.
Dahil sa mga kumalat na art cards, napaisip umano si Belmonte kung bakit ito naipaskil nang halos sa parehong oras.
"Like other fake news of this nature, I can only speculate its origins, and wonder why several deceptive artcards were posted at approximately the same time," aniya.
Sa huli, nanawagan ang alkalde sa publiko na iwasan ang pagbabahagi ng naturang maling ulat.
"[I] would like to request all truth-loving netizens to kindly refrain from sharing this false information, and if possible, correct it if they encounter it on their social media feeds."
Taong 1992 hanggang 2001 unang nagsilbi si Sonny sa House of Representatives kung saan tumayo siya bilang Speaker of the House at House Minority Leader.
Nagsilbi rin siya bilang alkalde ng QC mula 2001 hanggang 2010. — Philstar.com intern Vivienne Audrey Angeles
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Disclosure: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte is a shareholder of Philstar Global Corp., which operates digital news outlet Philstar.com.