News Roundup 31 July 2022
Jul 31, 2022 • 4 min Read
Ang-See: I can’t just watch historical distortion | INQUIRER.NET – The film “Maid in Malacañang,” which supposedly depicts the last 72 hours of Ferdinand Marcos and his family in the presidential palace before they fled the country in disgrace in 1986 could be a top grosser, albeit through arm-twisting, if word about alleged forced ticket sales were true. Chinese-Filipino civic leader Teresita Ang-See disclosed on Saturday that some business groups were called upon by Sen. Imee Marcos, the late ousted dictator’s daughter, to purchase millions of pesos worth of tickets for the movie for distribution to various schools. Ang-See, an academician and social activist, said there were “many schools” that had been given the tickets. She said she knew of one business group that was allegedly tapped by the senator to buy 5,000 tickets worth P1.5 million. Ang-See refused to identify the business group so as not to “single them out,” considering that many others had been approached to promote the movie. In a statement that has been circulating on Facebook and other social media platforms since Friday, she said that the distribution of the tickets was “tantamount to asking these educational institutions to promote outright lies, falsehoods and historical distortion.” “Creating more polarization by forcing untruths on the public just makes us citizens lose any remnant of respect that we have had for the current leadership of the country,” Ang-See said.
Furigay daughter says family receiving death threats after Ateneo shooting | PHILSTAR.COM – Days after the Ateneo Law School (ALS) graduation shooting that took the lives of former Lamitan Mayor Rose Furigay and two others, one of her daughters reports that her family has been receiving death threats due to disinformation about the late former public official. Kelsey Furigay said the threats were from “trolls or the killer’s sympathizers or supporters”. A Rappler report on social media posts about the shooting noted that more than half of Facebook posts were “supportive” of Chao Tiao Yumol, the suspect in the shooting. “I will start by saying that there is a huge troll problem on Facebook and social media. There’s an alarming amount of disinformation,” Kelsey said, adding that the disinformation epidemic prompted her to write the post in an attempt to clear her mother’s reputation. Yumol also shot Furgay’s long-time aide Victor Capistrano and Ateneo security guard Jeneven Bandiala. The gunman injured others as well, including Kelsey’s twin sister and ALS graduate, Hannah Furigay. He has since been indicted by the Quezon City prosecutor’s office and is facing three counts of murder and a complaint for frustrated murder. He has also been indicted for malicious mischief. However, some social media users have rallied behind Yumol for supposedly exposing the illegal drug trade in Lamitan City. This is despite the Philippine National Police’s Drug Enforcement Group already clearing the Furigay’s case in 2019 and by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2021. “She is already gone,” Kesley wrote. “But the fact that this is all happening with the disinformation in the media, the fake news peddlers and the pushy media personnel, makes it even harder for us to grieve in peace.” She said that the shooting “was personal,” citing several news items that reported on the cease and desist order (CDO) served to Yumol by the BARMM Ministry of Health in May 2019 for operating a clinic without a license. Two months later, Rose Furigay would also issue Yumol a similar order for failing to comply with guidelines. Yumol reportedly did not apply for a license. Yumol and Furigay were supposed to appear in court last Monday on a slew of cyberlibel cases that the Furigays filed against him after he wrote “several malicious insinuations” against them on social media. Meanwhile, Kelsey also clarified that their family is not involved in the death of Rolando Yumol, Chao Tiao’s father.
Guanzon: Cardema should be in contempt | PHILSTAR.COM – While she has yet to respond to an order by the Supreme Court (SC) to explain why she discussed the merits of a case against her in public, former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Rowena Guanzon said on Friday that National Youth Commission chairman Ronald Cardema should be held in contempt, not her. “Since he filed the petition, he has held a press con twice at the Pandesal Forum,” Guanzon said in a mix of Filipino and English on her official Twitter account. Guanzon’s statement came after the SC ordered her to explain why she should not be held in contempt following her interviews posted on Facebook and Youtube, discussing the merits of the unresolved complaint filed against her before the high tribunal by Cardema and the Duterte Youth party-list group, which he chairs. She said that Cardema filed the case ahead of her after he found out about her plans to file for contempt when he discussed the case in various press conferences.
