The camp of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is considering filing a case against Rappler for coming up with an article claiming he commissioned the political data-analysis firm Cambridge Analytica to boost the Marcoses’ image.
“The news story published by Rappler on July 15, 2020, on its website claiming that former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. approached Cambridge Analytica is patently fake, false, and misleading,” said Marcos’ legal counsel Vic Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said instead of changing its ways and adhering to the fundamental tenets of fair journalism and balanced news reporting, Rappler had again “resorted to peddling lies and fake news against the Marcoses in its vain attempt to dilute the serious credibility issue that has corrupted its worthiness.”
He said Marcos never reached out to Cambridge and was only made aware of its existence through the reports of its controversial activities in the media.
“This move by Rappler to besmirch the former senator’s and the Marcos family’s reputation speaks to the kind of insidious reporting espoused by its convicted founder Maria Ressa,” Rodriguez said.
He said the timing of the article is nothing more than a marketing ploy meant to drum up support for Rappler’s beleaguered news blog site.
“BBM [Marcos] is consulting with his legal team and will be exploring the legal options to fight this injustice. The filing of libel charges is on the table,” Rodriguez said.
Marcos, the namesake and only son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr., ran for vice president but lost to Leni Robredo in the 2016 elections. He filed an election protest with the Supreme Court, claiming massive cheating marred the vice presidential race.
Robredo, who ran under the ruling Liberal Party, the political party of then President Benigno Aquino III, won the vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes, which were only 263,473 more than the votes received by Marcos.