Sen. Francis Pangilinan raised a concern about the “unusual” school shooting incidents in the country and said it is possible that these could be tied to efforts to sow chaos and make the government look weak.
Pangilinan noted that in the past months alone, three school shootings were already reported and came “out of the blue.”
Pangilinan said many suspect that these shootings are “organized, syndicated, and calibrated.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is as a means to create chaos, to create instability, to create fear and to make government look weak,” he said during the budget hearing for the Department of Justice and attached agencies.
He said that during the last campaign, he had been the “valedictorian” of disinformation, with videos containing false information about him getting 100 million views.
“In other words, I know it can be done, yung paninira. It’s actually done and I’m a victim of that. So if it can be done in electoral campaigns, then it can also be done today,” he said.
He also said that when he headed the National Food Authority, there was a flurry of claims about “plastic rice,” which he traced to an orchestrated effort to spread disinformation and create fear and anger.
He directed his concern to the National Bureau of Investigation.
In response, NBI Director Melvin Matibag said the bureau is preparing a legislative framework for submission to the Senate and the House of Representatives that will regulate access to social media and cyberspace based on the user’s age.
Matibag also noted that some people easily blame the government for the shootings, but he said there are many possible factors that may be in play.
He said there is a nihilistic violent extremism group, there are “lurkers” who copy their actions, and there are students who make claims about a shooting just because he was unable to do his homework.
He said the NBI needs to monitor all these and would need funds to keep tabs on the online activities, which are “being supported by powerful groups somehow.”
Pangilinan agreed that the NBI’s capacity needs to be beefed up, saying it would be bad enough if a local group is involved, but it would be worse if foreign funding is in play.
Sen. JV Ejercito also expressed concern about the possibility of foreign-funded efforts to discredit the government and some personalities.
Ejercito said he suspects that many of the trolls and keyboard warriors attacking the Philippines on the West Philippine Sea issue are funded by China.
“Is it possible that they are funding this? And can we monitor that indeed, an external or foreign funding is being used to fund itong mga social media activities?” he said.
Matibag said there are “strong indications that there are information manipulation and interference by foreign entities.”
It may not necessarily be a foreign government, he added.
He also said that in preparation for the 2028 elections, there could be “conditioning” being done and funded by a foreign entity.
“There are strong indications,” he added.