FALSE: Leni Robredo says call center agents should not work from home

Claim:

Vice President Leni Robredo said call center agents “shouldn’t be allowed to work from home” in a quote card circulating online.

The quote first circulated in April 2020, but was reposted by Facebook user Jeffrey Cudillo on September 23, 2020. The reshared quote card has gotten 45 reactions, two comments, and 74 shares. It was flagged by Facebook’s Claim Check tool as potentially false or misleading.

Rating: FALSE

The facts:

There are no official speeches or transcripts wherein Robredo said what was attributed to her in the quote card. There are also no reports from credible news sites on Robredo saying the supposed quote.

In the post, an image of the Vice President is accompanied by the quote, “Ang mga Call center agents ay di na dapat pinapa work from home kasi hindi naman nila nakakausap [nang] personal ang mga kliyente nila.” (Call center agents shouldn’t be allowed to work from home since they don’t personally speak to their clients anyway.)

The Vice President’s stance on working from home has been clear since her March 12, 2020 address to the nation following the World Health Organization’s declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She said: “Sa pagkakataong ito, kailangan kong idiin: panahon nang ipatupad ang areglong work-from-home. Huwag na nating ipilit pumasok pa sa opisina ang ating mga empleyado, maliban na lang ang mga nakatutok sa pagpapaabot ng kaukulang serbisyo na maaaring umampat sa pagkalat ng virus.” 

(At this time, I must emphasize: it is time to implement a work-from-home arrangement. Let us not force our employees to go to offices, except for those involved in the delivery of essential services that would help contain the spread of the virus.)

Rappler has previously fact checked quotes wrongly attributed to Robredo. Some of these are listed below.

• FALSE: Leni Robredo ‘says’ K to 12 is not enough
• FALSE: Robredo, Hontiveros ‘quotes’ on drug war, kidnapping
• FALSE: Robredo ‘says’ pay Ayalas than give free water services to public
• FALSE: Robredo bans police from carrying firearms during anti-drug ops
• FALSE: Robredo wants suspects to ‘carry guns,’ police to ‘train martial arts
• ‘FALSE: Robredo ‘proposes widening pipes’ as solution to water crisis
• FALSE: Robredo ‘crafts’ own survey of drug users
• FALSE: Leni Robredo ‘ready’ to take over presidency

– with reports from Jo Comuyog, Vernise Tantuco/Rappler.com

This article was written by a Rappler volunteer or intern and reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.

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