Government messaging appears to be “problematic” after it topped a survey as the leading source of online misinformation in the Philippines.

Fifty- seven percent out of 2,019 Philippine respondents in a global survey by the Reuters Institute identified government politicians as the top proliferators of misinformation.

“I think this should be a wake-up call sa pamahalaan na yung messaging nila is problematic. Lalo na sa araw-araw na nagbibigay ng briefing or weekly na nagsasalita sa TV. Kung tama ba yung impormasyon na binibigay nila,” University of the Philippines journalism professor Yvonne Chua said in the PressOne.PH podcast.

(I think this should be a wake- up call for the government that their messaging is problematic. Especially for those who give briefings every day or those who talk on TV every week, if the information disseminated is correct.)

Chua cited for instance the insistence of the government in using an absolute number instead of the percentage of the population vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Alam niyo syempre tayo nawawalan tayo ng tiwala,” she said, pertaining to how people could react to deceptive data.

(Of course, you know, people lose trust.). Hazel N. Camba