What does Vice President Leni Robredo do when trolls spread false information about her online?

She doesn’t only ignore them, she laughs them off. They amuse her, the Vice President said.

“Hindi siya nakakapikon. Funny….Hindi ko naman pinapatulan. Binabasa ko pero never akong pumatol. Never akong sumagot. Never ako nagdepensa sa sarili (I don’t get piqued. Funny….I don’t respond. I read [the comments] but I never answered them. I never defended myself) ,” Robredo told CNN Philippines in an episode of The Source aired on Friday, March 2, when she was asked how she dealed with her online bashers.

Why has she taken this attitude?  “Source siya ng katuwaan…kasi hindi naman totoo (It’s a source of amusement…because they’re not true.)

The Vice President was asked if she ever reads comments from social media users who have been bashing her. (READ: ‘Unapologetic’ fake news spreaders an ‘insult’ to gov’t officials – Robredo)

According to Robredo, she does not mind rumors about her since these are false anyway, but she gets angry whenever the trolls hit her daughters or her late husband, ex-Interior chief Jesse Robredo. (READ: Robredo slams EJKs, online trolls in Human Rights Day message)

“Halimbawa (For example), one Christmas, iyong daughter ko, my youngest daughter, was bashed. She was bashed by a mother. And she did not deserve it. Iyon talaga nagagalit ako (I really got mad),” said Robredo.

“Kapag ginagawan ng kuwento iyong namatay kong asawa na hindi naman totoo, nagagalit ako. Pero iyong sa akin, wala pang sinabi, wala pang bash na totoo,” she added. 

(Whenever they make up stories about my dead husband, I get angry. But the things they have been saying about me, none of them are true.)

Robredo said it’s obvious the trolls are being run by a “well-oiled machinery.” (READ: State-sponsored hate: The rise of the pro-Duterte bloggers) 

“Kapag tiningnan mo iyong mga bash sa akin, pare-pareho sila. They say it differently, but they say the same things…. Parang may nagfi-feed,” said the Vice President.

(Whenever you look at the bashes against me, they are the same. They say it differently, but they say the  same things….It’s as if someone is feeding the information to them.)

The Vice President said the tirades against her have become so “ridiculous” that she’s actually “excited” to see what the online army comes up with next.

“Kung anu-ano lang. Parang excited nga ako. Excited ako parating tingnan what’s next kasi very ridiculous lahat,” she said. 

(They say whatever. I’m excited somethings. I’m excited to see what’s next because they are all very ridiculous.)

In January last year, a group of pro-Duterte bloggers tried to spark public interest in “LeniLeaks” – an allegation that the Vice President was conniving with US-based groups to bring down the President. The move, however, did not gain traction after security officials and even National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr brushed it aside. – Rappler.com