Palawan News Editor-in-Chief Redempto Anda has denied allegations linking him to an alleged smear campaign against the Puerto Princesa City government through a fake Facebook profile.
Anda addressed the accusations on social media, clarifying that he has no involvement in any campaign to spread misinformation about the city administration.
“For the past several weeks, real friends have been calling my attention to a certain page created on FB by a fake account with content attacking City Hall, and a post by another fake account claiming I was behind that page,” Anda wrote on his personal Facebook page.
“That fake account even took a screenshot of my personal FB page and posted the allegation. For the record and for the information of those who care to know, I have no knowledge about that fake page, and it’s not my style,” he added.
Anda emphasized that he had chosen to disregard the accusations, referencing Mark Twain’s famous advice.
“I have chosen to ignore the post, in keeping with Mark Twain’s advice never to engage in an argument with stupid people as they will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience,” he said.
Reaffirming his commitment to ethical journalism, Anda added, “I have better things to do and a reputation to keep. I can only hope that anyone who wants to accuse me of anything as outlandish as that should come out in the open so I can haul them to court.”
The accusations originated from a Facebook post by a certain Tracey Reynoso, who accused Anda of managing the page “You Know.”
“Para po hindi na kayo mahirapan mag-isip kung sino po ang mga gumagawa ng mga maling impormasyon at walang katotohanang issues na nakapost sa page ng You Know at Bigkis ni Bayron, ito po siya, isang batikan magsinungaling na nagtatrabaho sa Palawan News,” Reynoso alleged.
As early as April, Palawan News had been monitoring the “malign operations” of the “You Know” page, even conducting a fact-check on one of its posts about the city government’s temporary shelter project for fire victims in the Quito area in February. This was part of the Palawan News Truth Tracker initiative, aimed at combating misinformation.
Reynoso’s allegations, despite being baseless, received attention from a city government official, who shared her post with a malicious comment:
“Mapapa-may I ask a question ka talaga kapag ganito! Ano ang dahil? Sino ang dahil? A magkano ang dahil? Hindi mo rin talaga akalain! Respetadong peryodista umano, yun pala walang respeto! Elam! Pag-epus, imong b___ kepes!”
Questions have arisen regarding the authenticity of Reynoso’s Facebook account, with some suspecting it may be fabricated.
Based on Palawan News’ initial investigation, the page was created on September 23, 2023.
