House Prosecutors warn public vs fake news on VP Duterte impeachment as trial nears July

HOUSE prosecutors on Monday warned the public against fake news and misleading narratives surrounding the impeachment proceedings involving Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, saying misinformation is likely to intensify as the case moves closer to trial. The warning came after social media posts and online commentaries circulated claims that the House prosecution panel had been outperformed by Duterte’s defense team during the June 18 pre-trial conference before the Senate impeachment court. House lead prosecutor Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro dismissed the claims outright. “That is not true. I charge it to fake news,” Luistro said during a press briefing at the Senate. Luistro urged the public to be more discerning in consuming information about the impeachment proceedings. “The people should become very cautious now in watching from social media,” she said. “We should be careful in deciphering what is correct and what is false.” Luistro stressed that the prosecution remains focused on representing the interests of the Filipino people throughout the proceedings. Impeachment prosecutor and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the public should expect more attempts to distort developments in the case as the proceedings progress. “As these proceedings progress, we can expect more of that, more of disinformation, more of fake news, more of factual distortions, spins of the real stories, of the things that happen as the proceedings progress, lalo na pagdating natin sa trial proper,” De Lima said. The former senator called on both the public and the media to verify information carefully, noting that the impeachment proceedings have become one of the country’s most closely watched political events. “This is a highly charged event, of course, in the country, so certain players might be doing things that will again try to undermine especially the cause of the prosecution,” she stressed. The impeachment trial of Duterte is scheduled to begin on July 6 following the completion of pre-trial proceeding.