When fake news is repeated, it becomes difficult for the public to discern what’s real.
— California representative Jimmy Gomez
More than a week ago, my wife tried to get a copy of her birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority. She presented her national identification card and was surprised when she was told that she would be able to get it in just about an hour or so!
The result?
One big boo-boo . . .
The name in the birth certificate was hers but indicated as her parents were two names she couldn’t recognized.
To make a long story, my wife failed to get what she needed because there were about 30 other person bearing her name. Apparently the data gathered were somehow confusing and shifting her focus on her National ID, it turns out it was useless despite the supposed intricacies made in gather the bearers personal details and information and even her photo image and biometrics. That’s how fascinating this is to us!
So, daily, we not only face fake news but misinformation, disinformation and misinterpretation as well. The first three (fake news, misinformation and disinformation), we know all about; it’s the fourth that cause much concern because this is like stealing another’s identity.
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COINCIDING with the celebration of Firefighters Day, the Ang Bumbero ng Pilipinas (ABP) party-list group once again requested the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue a resolution that would rule with finality their legal representation of our ‘first responders’.
Apparently there is another group that is ‘misrepresenting’ ABP, claiming that the group led by their first nominee Dr. Jose Antonio ‘Ka Pep’ Goitia were no longer legitimate members and officials.
Goitia made the appeal to Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia because this was critical to their desire to represent their sector in Congress since his group are the original persons with Leninsky Bacud when the former Barangay chairman organized Ang Bumbero ng Pilipinas.
Bacud, ABP’s third nominee, was recently ambushed ang killed by unidentified gunmen while traveling through Manila’s Sampaloc District.
With the brutal incident in mind, Goitia poignantly appealed: “Sapat na ang isang buhay. Hindi na namin kayang pakawalan ang isa pa. Umaapela kami sa iyo, Commissioner Garcia, na ipasa agad ang resolusyon na nagbibigay sa amin ng nag-iisang ligal na representasyon ng Ang Bumbero ng Pilipinas party-list.”
“Buong tiwala tayo sa hudisyal na katawan ng Comelec na mananaig ang hustisya ngunit ilang araw na lang ang natitira bago ang halalan,” he pointed out to add.
Critically before his untimely death, Bacud had filed before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office a perjury complaint andbfalsification of public documents charges against the ten individuals who had alleged being the new officers of Ang Bumbero ng Pilipinas.
In the said criminal case, the current ABP president disclosed that the respondents had forged Bacud’s signature as well as those of the incumbent members of ABP’s board of directors, whom they claimed had resigned from their position on February 19, 2024.
Goitia clarified that the only time that legitimate officials filed for resignation was when a general assembly and special regular session had been convened on May 13, 2024 in accordance with their organization’s Articles of Incorporation and by-laws and during which occurrence he was elected president and Bacud vice-president.
He likewise revealed that in October last year, he and Bacud had questioned in a petition they filed the other group’s legitimacy in posing as representatives of ABP.
It was on January 17, 2025 that the Comelec’s 2nd Division presiding officer Marlon Casquejo ruled the case as default because the petitioners failed to appear on the scheduled date of the hearing.
Meanwhile, regarding the assassination of Bacud, ABP is offering P1 million for verified information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects and mastermind behind the crime.
Goitia vehemently condemned the killing: “Mahigpit naming kinondena ang pagpatay kay Bacud bilang isang masamang pag-atake hindi lamang sa aming kasama kundi pati na rin sa buhay ng lahat ng fire volunteers at rescuers na ang layunin a yip pagsilbihan at protektahan ang kanilang mga kababayan sa oras ng insidente ng sunog at iba pang kalamidad.”
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FOR your comments or suggestions, complaints or requests, just send a message through my email at cipcab2006@yahoo.com or text me at cellphone numbers 09171656792 or 09171592256 during office hours from Monday to Friday. Thank you and mabuhay!
