Camarines Sur Rep. Migz Villafuerte has welcomed the initiative by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) to pursue with prominent institutions of the legacy media a concerted effort to uphold responsible journalism and fend off disinformation and misinformation, which, he said, has been pervading the internet and undermining democratic governance.
Villafuerte said the PCO’s move to seal a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with nine (9) broadsheets in the country “will go a long way in beefing up efforts by the government and the private sector to check fake news that are intentionally being passed off to the public by interest or partisan groups as legitimate reportage.”
“We hope the PCO will be relentless in broadening this initiative by engaging many other institutions in legacy media and going ahead on its plan to coordinate with digital platforms such as Meta and Google in pursuit of a unified drive against disinformation and misinformation that are undermining public discernment of what are legitimate or fake news,” said Villafuerte, who chairs the House committee on information and communications technology (ICT).
Together with the House committee on public information, the Villafuerte-chaired ICT panel has been crafting a substitute bill against disinformation and misinformation peddled on media, with the goal, he said, of “striking a balance between outlawing fake news and upholding the democratic tenet of free speech.”
PCO Secretary Dave Gomez said the PCO has set up an Anti-Fake News Desk where citizens can report suspicious content for evaluation and possible action by concerned agencies.
Villafuerte issued this statement as nine of the country’s major newspaper publishers pledged to support the PCO’s campaign against fake news, during the recent launch of “Oplan Kontra Fake News” at the Kalayaan Hall in Malacañan Palace.
The publishers or representatives of the Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, Business Mirror, BusinessWorld, Malaya Business Insight, Daily Tribune and Manila Times signed on Feb. 4 at the Palace an MOU with the PCO on strengthening efforts to fight disinformation and misinformation.
In his speech during the Palace event, PCO Secretary Dave Gomez said the PCO has set up an Anti-Fake News Desk where citizens can report suspicious content for evaluation and possible action by concerned agencies.
Reports on suspicious content will then be evaluated by the PCO and referred to the Departments of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and of Justice (DOJ), among others, for proper action.
For the Congress to do its part in this campaign, Villafuerte said the ICT and public information committees of the House of Representatives have formed a technical working group (TWG) to hammer out a substitute bill on the proposed ‘Fake News and Digital Disinformation Act”—in place of over 10 similar measures that aim to outlaw fake news.
Villafuerte said in a recent joint hearing of the public information and ICT committees that, “Alongside imposing punitive action against peddlers of disinformation or misinformation, this proposed anti-fake news bill is also about fostering an environment where truth prevails, and trust in our sources of legitimate information is enhanced or restored.”
“The rapid spread of misinformation and fake news poses a significant threat to our democratic institutions, public health, and social cohesion,” said Villafuerte.
Villafuerte had co-presided over the joint hearing as ICT panel chairman with Parañaque City Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan as vice chairman of the information committee.
“We hope the PCO will be relentless in broadening this initiative by engaging many other institutions in legacy media and going ahead on its plan to coordinate with digital platforms such as Meta and Google.”
The House public information committee is chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Lordan Suan, while the TWG formed by the two panels to work on a substitute bill is headed by Bulacan Rep. Agatha Paula Cruz.
President Marcos drew up with Congress leaders in the third Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting of the 20th Congress a new batch of 12 priority bills, including the “Anti-Fake News and Digital Disinformation Act.”
House Bill (HB) No. 6314, which Villafuerte had authored with four more congressmen, noted that, “The proliferation of fake news and disinformation across media platforms, especially social media (socmed), has dramatically impacted the socio-political landscape of communication, security, elections, public health and democracy worldwide.”
In a 2025 survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), the bill said that 65% of Filipinos admitted they found it difficult to distinguish fake from real news, while 59% saw disinformation on the internet as a “serious” issue.
Further, the prevalence of fake news and disinformation has also significantly affected public trust in mainstream media, as 68% of respondents of a separate 2025 survey by Publicus Asia said they used internet search engines as their main source of political and current affairs information, followed by 66% and 65% who used Facebook and television (TV), respectively.
Villafuerte had introduced HB 6314 with Deputy Majority Leader Luigi Villafuerte along with fellow Camarines Sur Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon.
