There has been quite a few stories about Senator Bam Aquino on social media these days in relation to the clash between the government troops and the Maute group in Marawi City. Meme Buster has debunked the conspiracy theories about him allegedly meeting with the local terrorist group when he visited Marawi City days before the conflict in the area.
[ads2]
But now, another story has surfaced about how the senator appeared to be guilty of the accusation about his meeting with Maute members because he allegedly said “no comment” when the media asked about the said meeting.
The story “Bam Aquino Guilty! “No Comment” About Meeting Maute in Marawi City Before The Attack!” even got thousands of shares on Facebook.
According to the story, published by trendingtopics.ph.com, it showed an alleged exchange between Sen. Aquino and the media about whether the senator met a group in Marawi City that he kept secret and whether the “military intelligence” about him meeting people in private without even letting his staff and close-in security listen in is accurate. To both questions, Aquino allegedly said “no comment.”
[ads1]
When asked how he felt about the killings of innocent Muslims by their fellow Muslims, the senator allegedly said that he was “not fully aware of what really happened.”
It also noted how the speculations about Aquino’s involvement with the terrorists started with a post from a certain Jelomir Abcede, accusing the senator of changing escorts, from the PNP to another “group of men” when he reached Marawi City.
It turned out that the exchange was obtained by the blog from the viral post of Facebook user Billy Rush, whose post has already gained over 17,000 shares, as of writing.
As Rush has noted, he obtained the conversation from the Facebook page “Showbiz Government,” which has shared several fake stories before.
We traced the story to Showbiz Government, which actually shared a post from a certain Russel Musico, claiming that Aquino gave a “no comment” answer to the media when asked about his alleged meeting with the Maute group.
“Bam Aquino refuses to answer truthfully when asked what was going on during his visit in Marawi City. Ulitin mo lang ang ginawa ng ama ng pinsan mo, sagutin mo kaming lahat sa mga atraso mo! Akala mo nakalimutan namin lahat ang kalokohan ng pamilya mo? 30 years na lumipas. Wala kayong ginawang mabuti para sa bayan,” Showbiz Government captioned its post.
But the admin of Sen. Aquino’s Facebook page responded to a Facebook user’s question about why the senator merely answered “no comment” when asked about his visit to Marawi City. The response was, “Hi Reign, there was never an interview that Sen. Bam said no comment or did not answer any comment thrown by the media.” The admin of the page also provided links to the video of the senator’s interview about the Marawi clash and the transcript of that same interview.
During the media interview, this is what Sen. Aquino said about his May 19 trip to Marawi:
“Actually, I was there nung Friday at nagbukas kami ng 508th Negosyo Center in Marawi. the first negosyo center in ARMM. Everybody was so hopeful na yung pagtulak ng pagnenegosyo, trabaho, could really lead to peace. Kaya talagang heartbreaking itong nangyayari na to.
Yung mga kasama namin na military, mga kasama namin na negosyante at local government officials, lahat nagsabi na itong pagtulak ng mas magagandang trabaho, mas magandang pagnenegosyo sa mga kapatid nating Muslim, will eventually lead to peace. So itong nangyayari ngayon, it’s really heartbreaking. Because the people there, want peace, want progress. Gusto nila ng magandang buhay para sa kanilang lugar.
Instead, ang nakukuha po nila, ay isang battle zone na hindi po tama at dapat po maitigil na.”
Showbiz Government just picked up that post from another Facebook user without verifying the veracity of its claims. The Facebook page has also posted false stories before, such as the Aquino admin selling two mountains in Zambales to China, Sen. Risa Hontiveros filing a bill to color code MRT passengers, actress Agot Isidro dating drug lords, former Pres. Erap Estrada giving a 2/10 score to VP Robredo for her first 100 days, Hontiveros filing a bill seeking salary increase for rallyists, Jim Paredes hating Duterte since college, and Sen. Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan holding hands while walking.
[ads3]
