FALSE: Robredo is a member of CPP-NPA-NDF

At a glance:

• Claim: Vice President Leni Robredo is a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF). She also thanks NPA defenders.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: Vice President Leni Robredo is not a CPP-NPA-NDF member. There are also no reports of Robredo thanking defenders of the NPA.
• Why we fact-checked this: This claim was posted in the Facebook group “Rody Duterte Solid(Duterte-Duterte2022)” on December 12 and has 342 reactions, 490 comments, and 136 shares, as of writing. It has also been spotted in other Facebook posts, one of which has 401 reactions, 397 comments, and 621 shares.

Complete details:

A Facebook post on December 12 in the group “Rody Duterte Solid(Duterte-Duterte2022)” alleged that Vice President Leni Robredo is a member and supporter of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People’s Army (NPA), and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

The said post also contains a quote card that attributed the following to Robredo: “Salamat sa mga nagtatanggol sa mga NPA. Kailangan natin protektahan ang NPA. Pag-asa din sila ng ating bayan. Dapat makiisa ang gobyerno sa hangarin ng NPA. Eto ang pangako ko kapag ako naging pangulo.”

(Thanks to the defenders of the NPA. We have to protect the NPA. They are also the hope of our nation. Government should align with the objectives of the NPA. These are my promises if I become president.)

These claims are false.

There is no proof of Robredo’s alleged membership in the CPP-NPA-NDF and no official reports of it by legitimate news outlets.

In an email to Rappler from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Robredo’s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said, “To be clear, VP Leni is not and has never been a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF.”

There is also no record in news reports or speeches of Robredo saying the things attributed to her in the quote card. She also denied saying this specific quote in a Facebook post on December 12.

The OVP also denied entering peace talks with the NDF. In a December 15 post on Robredo’s official Facebook page, Gutierrez said: “The Office of the Vice President is not engaged, and has no intention of engaging, in direct peace negotiations with the NDF. While peace talks are crucial in resolving this decades long conflict, they must be conducted through official, formal channels that the OVP is not part of.”

The post on “Rody Duterte Solid(Duterte-Duterte2022)” also claims that Robredo will legalize the illegal drug called shabu (methamphetamine). Rappler has fact checked a similar claim before. Robredo was also misquoted in 2017 about decriminalizing drug use.

As of writing, this post has 342 reactions, 490 comments and 136 shares.

The quote card can also be found in several other Facebook posts, notably in a post on December 10 by Facebook user Lovell Paras Canceran. As of writing, the Canceran’s post had 401 reactions, 397 comments, and 621 shares. Her post was also shared in the following partial list of Facebook groups:

• “PROTECT THE PRESIDENT DUTERTE”
• “SARA DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT AND R. DUTERTE FOR VICE PRESIDENT 2022”
• “SARA DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT & R. DUTERTE FOR VICE PRESIDENT 2022”
• “Rody Duterte Solid(Duterte-Duterte2022)”
• “🦅👊SUPPORT and PROTECT the PRESIDENT DUTERTE👊🦅”
• “Inday Sara Duterte Carpio Tayo sa 2022👊💪❤”
• “Inday Sara Duterte For President Movement”
• “HUGPONG NG PAGBABAGO”
• “Toledo Political Forum”
• “Samahang maka duterte!!”

Rappler has fact-checked multiple claims about Robredo before as well as claims made by Canceran. – Percival Bueser/Rappler.com

This article was written by a volunteer of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program, a 5-week exclusive and hands-on training on detecting, investigating, and verifying online misinformation and disinformation.

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.