Malacañang on Tuesday slammed Facebook for shutting down only pro-government and advocacy pages and accounts.
“Kinakailangan pag-usapan ito at hindi po kinukunsinti ni [President Rodrigo Duterte] ang censorship ng mga pro-government advocacies ‘no, kasama na po itong adbokasiya to protect the children against child enlistment as combatants,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in an online briefing.
Roque claimed that both of Facebook’s Philippine-based fact-checkers, Rappler and Vera Files, were against the Duterte administration.
“Bakit kapag pabor sa gobyerno, tinatanggal; kapag pabor sa oposisyon, hindi tinatanggal? Bakit ang fact-checkers [ay] laban sa gobyerno?” he said.
“Sino pa dito sa bayan na ito ang magdududa na ang Rappler at ang Vera Files ay talaga namang kontra sa administrasyon ni Presidente Duterte? Bakit sila lamang ang kinuhang fact-checkers ng Facebook? Hello, kung hindi ka kumbinsido na laban sila sa gobyerno baka ikaw ay tiga-ibang planeta,” he added.
Despite this, Roque assured the public that Duterte would not ban the social media network in the Philippines.
“Ang sabi ni presidente, kinakailangan mag-usap. Parehong hindi mabuti iyan sa Facebook at sa Pilipinas ‘no, number one po kasi sa buong mundo tayo sa Facebook ‘no. So kung mawawala tayo, malaking kawalan po iyan sa Facebook pero at the same time dahil number one nga tayo, marami ring Pilipinong gumagamit ng Facebook na maaapektuhan din,” he said.
Duterte sensitive to shutdown of ‘Hands Off Our Children’ page
Roque said what caught the ire of Duterte was the removal of the Facebook page “Hands Off Our Children,” an advocacy group composed of parents of youth recruited into organizations espousing violent extremism, whose goal was to prevent the recruitment of minors to terrorist organizations.
“Galit na galit hindi lang ang presidente [sa pagkawala ng Hands Off Our Children] page, kasi nga po obviously talagang iyan po ay tinitira ang New People’s Army for their notorious recruitment of children which is an international crime,” he said.
“Pinaka-sensitive ang Pangulo doon dahil iyon po ay pinangangalagaan po ang kapakanan ng ating kabataan. At sa larangan po ng international law, notorious po ang mga komunista in recruiting children as combatants despite iyong absolute ban on the recruitment of children as combatants,” he added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro