Several Facebook pages are sharing a report with the same headline claiming that Senator Risa Hontiveros said Maute Group did not attack Marawi City and did not start a rebellion. It says, “Sen. Hontiveros hindi rebelyon at pagsalakay ang ginawa ng Maute Group!” If you’re the type to merely read the headline then start reacting angrily to it, spreading the word further on social media, then you will likely fall victim to what we discovered to be a misleading headline.
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The report was picked up by several blogs, all bearing the same headline, including pinoybalita.net, newsmediaph.com, pinoytribune.com, and newsbreakph.tk, among others. Based on the Facebook search results, the story has been shared over 3,000 times already.
We also found the story being shared by dugongmaharlika.com and its Facebook page, which we have busted several times before.
Some of the Facebook pages that we found sharing the story include Pres. Duterte Para sa Tunay na Pagbabago, TULFO News, Ako Ang Media Ni Duterte, Pres, Duterte ang Agila ng Davao, and Duterte News Media, among others.
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Since we found some quoted statement from Hontiveros in the story, we tried to Google it and result #2 is that of a GMA News Online article on May 27, “Hontiveros insists on joint session to review Duterte’s martial law declaration.”
We clicked on the link and found that Hontiveros did make the statement. But what’s surprising is that every word that was written in the GMA News Online report was copied by the blog.
Here’s a screenshot of what dugongmaharlika.com published:
So, it’s clear that while they copied everything from the GMA News Online report, they changed the title to make it seem like Hontiveros is defending the Maute Group from the accusations of rebellion due to what happened in Marawi City.
What Hontiveros was actually trying to do is to call for a joint session to evaluate the basis of Duterte’s martial law declaration.
“”The legislature has the constitutional duty to scrutinize the report of the President on the declaration of martial law before a joint session. We have the duty to evaluate if the declaration has basis or not. Even if the declaration seems to have the support of the majority of our lawmakers, the constitution mandates us to listen to all voices, particularly those who raise legitimate concerns over the implementation of this proclamation,” Hontiveros said in her statement.
This is because Senate President Koko Pimentel is of the opinion that the Congress only needs to convene if they want to revoke or limit Duterte’s order, while House Speaker Alvarez is supportive of Duterte’s decision. House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas also opined that the Congress only needs a joint session if the President submits the order to the Congress himself.
Hontiveros added that the joint session will also be a way for the public to know the lawmakers stand on the martial law declaration.
“The people deserve to know where their lawmakers stand on this important matter. If they believe that they stand on the right side of history, I don’t see why Congress can’t convene a joint session,” she said.
Duterte declared martial law on the whole of Mindanao on May 23 at 10pm following reports of Maute attacking Marawi City.
Dugongmaharlika.com and the other blogs are trying to mislead people with the wrong headline and it is not the first time the said blog did such a thing. It also published fake, misleading stories that Meme Buster busted, such as how Duterte signed EO 201 when it was actually former President Noynoy Aquino who signed it, how an alleged ‘American journalist’ exposed that LP connived with the US and CIA to terrorize Marawi City, and how LP, CIA, and US will assassinate Duterte soon. If you read something from dugongmaharlika or the other blogs named above, make sure to verify the veracity of the story first before believing it and talking about it to your family, friends and colleagues if you don’t want to be accused of spreading fake news.
The other blogs included a UNTV video, showing Hontiveros being interviewed on the program Get It Straight with Daniel Razon. We watched the video and the lady senator did question whether the Marawi crisis indeed qualify under rebellion or invasion.
In the June 7 UNTV report, “Duterte admin’s move vs Maute in Marawi an overkill – Sen. Hontiveros,” she was quoted saying, “Even in the parameters of martial law, is that rebellion? We are the ones who initiated, and did the city government of Marawi break its allegiance to the government and join the Maute? Obviously, it did not. Is it invasion or rebellion?”
The senator was possibly referring to the army’s earlier statement that the military raid they conducted on May 23 was to arrest Abu Sayyaf subleader Isnilon Hapilon, who was spotted in Marawi City with about 15 followers.
However, AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla also said that during the operation, they recovered materials and high-powered firearms “indicating that many of these activities prior to our entry to the area have been planned long ago.”
“Indeed there was planning that was involved even prior to our entry to arrest Hapilon… when we got information that he was holed up in the area,” Padilla added.
Hontiveros emphasized the importance of holding a joint session to review the basis of Duterte’s martial law declaration, adding that there are other options aside from putting the entire Mindanao region under martial rule.
In a statement on June 8, Hontiveros’ office said, “The Maute group’s siege in Marawi is an act of terrorism. Senator Risa Hontiveros condemns all acts of terror and is fervent in pursuing peace.”
Sources: ( philstar.com , untvweb.com )
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