SENATOR Leila de Lima on Thursday admitted that fighting fake news and disinformation can help her in her reelection bid.

“I rely on my campaign team and my close friends and supporters to mount a strong campaign not only to communicate my advocacies to all Filipinos, but to also dispel all disinformation and fake news propagated by sinister forces who want to prevent me from returning to the Senate and foiling their corrupt and malevolent plans,” she said.

When De Lima declared her reelection bid last July 2021, several pro-Duterte pages repeatedly shared the link of a YouTube video that ran a misleading headline implying that the senator was removed from her post.

After she filed her certificate of candidacy last Oct. 8, 2021, fake news peddlers also floated ideas and disinformation that De Lima cannot seek reelection supposedly because she is in detention.

This was debunked by election lawyer Romulo Macalintal who said in an interview that the allegations that De Lima is not qualified to run for a Senate post is part of a smear campaign against her, considering that she is not convicted.

De Lima said that she hopes to get her message to voters through the help of her campaign team, friends, supporters and volunteers, as well as through the use of social media.

“We also have the opportunity to meet new supporters and groups who believe in our advocacies of upholding the rule of law and human rights and promoting the welfare of our countrymen, especially those who have less in life,” she said.

“We are also utilizing the power of the internet to reach out to even more people beyond those whom we already consider as our supporters,” she added.