MANILA, Philippines — Twelve senators, including the Senate's leadership, have signed a resolution for hearings into potential government spending on "troll farms", or networks that spread disinformation and misinformation. The resolution refers to allegations by Sen. Panfilo Lacson — a co-author of Senate Resolution No. 768 — that an unnamed government undersecretary has been organizing these troll farms to target politicians who are opposed to or are not aligned with the Duterte administration. PCOO Undersecretary Kris Ablan said in response that the agency has not hired any "trolls", telling ABS-CBN News Channel last Friday that "social media specialists (do) not equate to trolls." He said that "the social media specialists in the COA report are actually our graphic artists who upload our (social media) cards, our infographics explaining our programs on PhilSys (Philippine Identification System), COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) response, and the vaccines."

Source: Philippine Star July 12, 2021 10:07 UTC