THE camp of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is mulling over taking action, including filing a libel suit, in response to what it calls a total falsehood alleging he had once sought the services of discredited data firm Cambridge Analytica to “rebrand” the Marcos name.
“The timing of this news story is nothing more than a marketing ploy meant to drum up support for their beleaguered news blog site,” said the statement, issued by Bongbong’s lawyer Vic Rodriguez, referring to Rappler.
“BBM [Marcos] is consulting with his legal team and will be exploring the legal options to fight this injustice. The filing of libel charges is on the table,” Rodriguez said in a statement sent to media.
“Instead of changing their ways and adhering to the fundamental tenets of fair journalism and balanced news reporting, Rappler has again resorted to peddling lies and fake news against the entire Marcoses in their vain attempt to dilute the serious credibility issue that has corrupted their worthiness,” the lawyer added.
The news story published by Rappler on July 15, 2020, “is patently fake, false, and misleading,” according to Rodriguez,
He said the former senator “never reached out to them and, like most of us, was only made aware of Cambridge Analytica’s existence through reports of its controversial activities in the media.”
Rappler founder and CEO Maria Ressa was recently convicted of cyber libel in a case filed by a businessman over a report tagging him, among others, as the supplier of luxury cars used by then Chief Justice Renato Corona in his 2012 impeachment trial. She is appealing the conviction.
Image credits: Roy Domingo