News Roundup 26 April 2022
Apr 26, 2022 • 4 min Read
Robredo-Pangilinan tandem gets support at mini rally in Benguet | INQUIRER.NET – About 500 supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, staged a mini campaign rally here on Tuesday (April 26), drawing support from some local candidates. Robredo’s youngest daughter, Jillian, joined the crowd during the event after also campaigning for her mother in nearby Baguio City. During the rally held at the parking area of the town’s public market, Lawyer Jerry Marave, who is running for governor of Benguet under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), announced his support for the candidacies of Robredo and Pangilinan. Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan, who is running for Congress representative for the lone district of Benguet, was also at the mini campaign rally and welcomed Jillian, who represented her mother. Palangdan is also running under the KBL.
Around 27 Catholic lay organizations in Bacolod back Robredo, Pangilinan | INQUIRER.NET – At least 27 lay organizations of the Diocese of Bacolod have declared their support for the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Monday, April 25. Bobby Magalona, lay leader of the Community of Families for Christ-Gawad Kalinga, said this is the first time that the lay organizations have united to come up with a declaration of support for candidates. “This is very significant and very historic,” he said during a press conference at the John Paul II Hall of the Redemptorist Shrine in Bacolod City. The lay organizations, in their joint statement, said the results of the May 9 elections will determine what will happen to the country and the future of children “The choice of leaders in these elections will be crucial in deciding our fate as a sovereign and democratic country,” they said. They called on each community to go through a discernment process and to be guided by the truth and not be deceived by propaganda, disinformation, revision of facts and all forms of lies. The group said Robredo and Pangilinan met their criteria of leaders who are God-fearing, show godly values, and value the Filipino family, Magalona said.
3 alleged hackers in Smartmatic security breach fall in sting operation | PHILSTAR.COM – Anti-cybercrime personnel have arrested three alleged hackers of the so-called “XSOX Group” in an entrapment operation after they claimed to be involved in an alleged security breach of poll tech provider Smartmatic’s system. The alleged hackers have been “persistently visible” on the “dark web” and claiming that they can influence the upcoming May polls, the police Anti-Cybercrime Group said in a release. They allegedly threatened to release 60 Gigabytes from the 1 Terabyte worth of Smartmatic and Commission on Elections data they were able to access. However, the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said the hackers did not have access to the data for the actual elections in May. “Masasabi namin together with the PNP (Philippine National Police) na ito ay napakalaking scam. ‘Yung kanilang na-hack, totoo nga, meron silang nakuhang access sa Smartmatic system nung una… hanggang dun lang sa preparations pero sa actual elections, hindi na ho [nila ma-access ang Comelec system],” CICC Undersecretary Cezar Mancao II said in a press conference on Tuesday. (We, along with the PNP, can say that this is a massive scam. The platform that they did have access to by hacking the Smartmatic system… they only had access to the preparations but they were not able to get to the Comelec’s system for the actual elections.) The DICT’s CICC along with the PNPs Anti-Cybercrime Group conducted the entrapment operation in Imus, Cavite and Sta. Rosa, Laguna over the weekend.
Fearing others might be targeted with fake sex videos, Tricia Robredo asks NBI to go after culprits | PHILSTAR.COM – Another daughter of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo has asked the National Bureau of Investigation for help in tracking down the people behind the fake sex videos of her being circulated online. In a letter to the NBI dated April 21, 2022, Tricia Robredo said through her lawyer that “if these perpetrators are not unmasked and prosecuted before the courts, other persons might be subjected to the same vicious and criminal acts.” The younger Robredo hopes that the NBI can identify the first post, usernames and accounts and other details of the perpetrators so she can press charges against them. She also included an initial list of links that the NBI may find useful in its probe and eventual prosecution of those involved.
