Two lawmakers from Camarines Sur have called on the Senate to pass, in the next regular session of the 20th Congress, a House-approved measure to curb the spread of false information, or fake news, deliberately circulated to destroy reputations or trigger public disorder.
Reps. Migz Villafuerte and Luigi Villafuerte said Congress can help protect responsible journalism and counter disinformation and misinformation, especially on social media, by enacting a measure that balances free speech protections with penalties for fake news.
The appeal comes after the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 9465, or the “Digital Media Anti-False Information Act,” before Congress adjourned sine die last June 5.
The bill was among the 21 priority measures of President Marcos and the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.
The two lawmakers said preventing the spread of fake news, particularly online, has become urgent, citing the latest Pulse Asia survey commissioned by the Stratbase Group, which showed that 83 percent of Filipinos rely on Facebook, YouTube, and other online platforms as their primary sources of news.
Migz Villafuerte, chairman of the House committee on information and communications technology, and Luigi Villafuerte, a deputy majority leader, are among the authors of HB 9465.
The House ICT panel and the House committee on public information, chaired by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan, endorsed the measure for plenary approval.
Suan sponsored the bill on the floor last June 3. It was approved by the House with 286 affirmative votes, three negative votes, and seven abstentions.
“Given how fast misinformation or disinformation can spread with breakneck speed via the internet, this House-passed bill against fake news needs to be passed after our sine die adjournment, not to curtail freedom of speech but to repulse the quick spread of lies or phony information with the specific intent of demolishing reputations, precipitating public harm, or undermining national security,” Migz said.
Luigi said, meanwhile, that “on top of safeguarding freedom of expression and checking the spread of misinformation or disinformation, HB 9465 imposes jail time and cash penalties to ensure that those who deliberately or intentionally spread phony information against persons or institutions are held accountable for peddling fake news.”
The proposed law imposes imprisonment of six to 12 years and/or fines ranging from P500,000 to P2 million on those found guilty of knowingly and willfully spreading false information with the intent to cause verifiable public harm or threaten national security.
Under the measure, individuals may be punished for knowingly and willfully disseminating spurious information despite actual knowledge that the information is false, with the intent to cause public harm or threaten national security.
The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police have separately expressed support for legislative efforts to strengthen laws against artificial intelligence-generated content or deepfakes that threaten public trust and security.
President Marcos included the anti-fake news bill in a new batch of 12 priority measures drawn up with congressional leaders during the third LEDAC meeting of the 20th Congress.
Among the measures consolidated into HB 9465 was HB 6314, which the Villafuertes introduced with Camarines Sur Rep. Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon.
In HB 6314, they noted that, “The proliferation of fake news and disinformation across media platforms, especially socmed, has dramatically impacted the socio-political landscape of communication, security, elections, public health and democracy worldwide.”
They cited a 2025 Social Weather Stations survey showing that 65 percent of Filipinos admitted they found it difficult to distinguish fake from real news, while 59 percent viewed disinformation on the internet as a “serious” issue.
They also pointed to a separate 2025 Publicus Asia survey showing that 68 percent of respondents used internet search engines as their main source of political and current affairs information. This was followed by Facebook at 66 percent and television at 65 percent.
The lawmakers had also supported the Oplan Kontra Fake News initiative, under which major publishers of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, Daily Tribune, Malaya Business Insight, Manila Standard, and the Manila Times signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Presidential Communications Office to strengthen efforts against misinformation and disinformation.
They said the PCO’s MOU with the nine broadsheets, the launch of a website against fake news, and its tri-agency memorandum of agreement with the Department of Justice and the Department of Information and Communications Technology will help strengthen government and private-sector efforts to stop fake news intentionally passed off by interest or partisan groups as legitimate reportage.