Padayon Bol-anon stalwarts stand against the deluge of fake news against their standard bearer, Deputy Speaker Arthur Yap.
The latest to rise in protest was retired judge Carlos Fernando, Yap’s chosen candidate to succeed him as congressman of third district.
Fernando protested to circulation of the fake news that Yap is withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.
As Yap’s trusted ally in the third district, Fernando expressed disgust as how Yap’s opponents had insulted the intellectual capacity of the electorate by feeding them with fake news just to get support.
Fernando, however, expressed confidence that the people of Bohol are smart enough to discern that they would not succumb to deceptions espoused by the other camp.
“Ako, dako akong pagsalig sa atong katawhang Bol-anon nga di man ni sila motuo og mga ing-ani. Ako lang pong pun-an nga kaning gihimo sa mga kaatbang sa atong pinangga nga Congressman Art Yapmura ba’g mao ni expression nga nakaminus sila sa atong mga kaigsoonang Bol-anon kay abi nila og motuo nalang sila sa mga panglingla, pamakak aron makuha ang ilang suporta (For me, what the opponents of our beloved Congressman Art Yap have done is like an expression that they have underestimated our fellow Boholanos, thinking that they (the people) would just readily believe the deceptions, lies to get their support), according to Fernando.
He added that the fake news and deception are all just gimmick and that such kind of campaign only shows that the purveyors of the lies have no sound fundamental in their brand of politics.
“Gimmick lang gyud na, fake news, panglingla. Kini man gung mga ing-ani nga kampanya wa gyud kay sound fundamental sa imong pamolitika, wa kay programa, wa kay plataporma. Ang imong buhaton puro gimmick (It’s just gimmick, fake news, deception. With this kind of campaign, you do not have fundamental in your politics, you have no program, you have no platform. What you do is all gimmick),” Fernando pointed out.
He also emphasized that candidates have the obligation to give the people the accurate message and correct information so that the people could choose wisely who deserve their support.
“Di man tingali angay ing-ana-on na kay, in fact, obligasyon na sa mga partido, sa mga kandidato nga tagaan og husto nga mensahe, tagaan og insakto nga impormasyon ang atong mga katawhan aron sila makapili og kinsa gyu’y angayan, (It should not be that way because, in fact, it is the obligation of the parties, the candidates to give our people the correct message, the correct information so that they can choose who really deserve), Fernando pointed out.
He added that resorting to lies just to get support is tantamount to underestimating the Boholanos’ capacity to discern.
“Para nako nakaminus sila sa atong mga igsoong Bol-anon maong ilang mga pamaagi aron lang makuha nila ang gahum, ilang buhaton ang pagpanglinlang. Ako, dako akong pagsalig sa atong kaigsoonang Bol-anon nga dili sila malingla. Dili sila motuo basta basta nalang sa mga bakak nga mga istorya nga mga sulti-sulti sa mga kaatbang sa atong pinanggang Congressman Art Yap nga nag-unang kandidato pagkagobernador sa atong probinsya,” Fernando said.
Yap had earlier explained that he chose Fernando to succeed him, because there are still important issues and subject matter left to be tackled at the House of the Representatives and he is confident that Fernando, a judge for 22 years, has all the qualifications to carry on with the task which involves debates in the plenary.