By Manny Piñol
It is almost unimaginable how people described by presidential tail-ender Manuel Roxas III as “disente” could brazenly weave and peddle the most outrageous lies.
Yesterday, in the aftermath of the Kidapawan City carnage where three farmers were killed and dozens more injured, including policemen, the administration launched a massive disinformation campaign to confuse people on the real story behind the bloody incident.
I became one of their targets. They say I was one of the organisers of the rally and that my actions were politically motivated.
A friend shared with me a post by Maria Victoria P. Garchitorena, former head of the Presidential Management Staff under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
I did not have the chance of meeting Garchitorena but I admired her based on what I heard about her.
Everything changed last night.
In her Facebook page, which was shared to the pages of some of my friends, where she claimed that the Kidapawan City farmers’ rally was engineered by the New People’s Army to promote the candidacy of Rody Duterte, I discovered that the woman I admired is a peddler of lies and is no different than the other members of the administration party who do not even twitch a muscle when mouthing yarns and lies.
What were her ridiculous claims:
1. Garchitorena said the rally of thousands of farmers begging for rice was stage-managed by the New People’s Army (NPA) to make Duterte look like a hero.
What is the truth?
It was only on Thursday night when I briefed Duterte that the farmers rally which resulted in the barricading of the national highway was getting to be a serious problem.
That was when I asked him to consider the possibility of dropping by Kidapawan City on the way back to Davao City from Bukidnon so he could talk to the organisers to lift the barricade and allow motorists to pass through.
It was only on Friday morning, shortly before the dispersal of the protesters, when I visited the rally site and talked to the organisers to do the ground work for Duterte’s possible visit.
2. Garchitorena claimed that I am Duterte’s gubernatorial candidate in North Cotabato and that I was running against incumbent Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Santos therefore my actions were politically motivated.
What is the truth?
I am not running for any political position. I have declared retirement from politics. I could not believe that Garchitorena, former head of the Presidential Management Staff, could be so careless in her presentation of information in her posts. This is the same woman who was involved in providing then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with data and information from which important decisions were made.
3. Garchitorena said that I am the head of Duterte’s army of internet trolls flooding the social media with propaganda materials to condition the mind of the people.
What is the truth?
I am a One-man Army using only this page to share information that I know about Duterte and his bid for the Presidency. I am not paid by Duterte to do this. I do this because I believe that Duterte is the right man for the job. If there is anybody who is involved in engaging internet trolls to undertake a propaganda campaign, it is no other than the Liberal Party (LP) leadership with their vast resources. In fact, Rappler, a news website, discovered that in one of its surveys, there was a flooding of online votes for Manuel Roxas III, many of these coming countries like Russia and Korea, apparently orchestrated by the LP to make it appear that Roxas is leading in the online surveys.
4. Garchitorena claimed that the civilians who were killed in the rally did not sustain bullet wounds and that they were killed by rocks thrown.
What is the truth? This is the most ridiculous claim from a supposedly learned woman. Did she conduct a medical examination or did she at least base her conclusion on medico-legal reports or merely from the claims of government apologists. The best way to ascertain this is to await the medical report from those authorised to conduct an autopsy.
5. Garchitorena said many of the protesters were brought in by the organisers from the different areas of the province and promised rice in return. She said that behind the rally were the “Reds” and Left-Leaning groups.
What is the truth? Yes, most, if not all, of the farmers were brought to the rally by the organisers. That’s the reality of a mass action to dramatise a situation. The Left and the Reds were indeed involved in the rally. They thrive in crisis situations like this. Anybody who says that the Left and the Reds do not ride on the grievances of the masses is either naive or a fool.
She made other claims that Duterte is an NPA coddler and protector which is actually a recycled claim.
When I checked on Garchitorena’s background, I found out that she is currently the Vice President of the Liberal Party for the Woman Sector.
I don’t know what interests Garchitorena is protecting but it is obvious that she is part of the “decent people” in the establishment who are afraid of the Change that Duterte promises.
To protect her interests, she could go to the extent of concocting and peddling lies to justify another major blunder committed by this administration.
This is the truth, no more, no less.
Ms. Garchitorena please check you facts before you make any accusation. Peddling lies for political purposes tarnishes your reputation.
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