A Catholic bishop in the northern Philippines warned Filipinos against spreading lies, especially during the Holy Week, saying those who do it have “no sense of the Lord.”
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan made the warning in a letter to Aika Robredo, daughter of the country’s vice president, who became a victim of malicious social media posts in the past week.
Aika is the eldest of the three daughters of Vice President Leni Robredo who is running in the May 9 presidential elections against former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“Let not the lies disturb you,” wrote the archbishop. “The truth of your life of decency and humility and service and intelligence is known by all of us. Only liars will believe their own kind,” he added.
The supposed indecent videos of Aika were reportedly uploaded and circulated on the Internet as the political campaign period for the elections entered the homestretch.
“The purveyors of these calumnies against you clearly have no sense of the Lord who called Himself the Truth,” read the letter of Archbishop Villegas.
He said the “disciples of the Prince of Darkness” hatched the “rotten egg.” The Church leader also reminded Robredo to “overcome evil by the power of good.”
“Match their passion for lies with your greater fire for public service,” said the bishop.
“You are going to be a stronger woman of character after all these have faded away. Lies and liars die in time. Only [the] truth is forever,” he said.
Bishop Villegas also assured the younger Robredo that the incident is her God-given cross to carry this Holy Week.
“For the moment you suffer; but this suffering can only make you better,” he said.
The camp of the vice president has earlier slammed the “malicious fabrication” and assured that their lawyers are planning to take legal action.
Vice President Robredo said she was not surprised at what happened because her family had been at the receiving end of “fake news” since 2016 when she first ran for office against Marcos.
“I am not surprised because this has always been their ploy since he lost in 2016,” she said. “Such fake news did not decimate me. It only decimates those people who were made to believe the lies.”
“At the end of the day, the people will always choose goodness and truth,” said the vice president.
