MANILA – As the world marks April Fools' Day, lawmakers urged Filipinos to not be tricked amid the spread of fake news, especially on social media.

Surigao Del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers warned individuals who are still spreading fake news.

“Itong mga nagpapakalat ng misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, eh dapat April 1 lang kayo, huwag na kayong umulit sa April 2 hanggang sa the rest of the days in the year, kung maaari, wag na kayong manloko, wag na kayong magsininguling, baguhin natin yung kultura kasi mahirap iyang tularan ng mga kabataan,” he said in an online interview on Tuesday.

Barbers said the House of Representatives is working on crafting policies and regulations to penalize those spreading fake news.

The lawmaker cited the Tri Committee hearings, which is looking into misinformation, disinformation and fake news.

“Patuloy pa rin itong Tri Comm hearing at iimbitahin pa rin natin tong mga vloggers na ito na napakagaling. Magagaling ang kanilang mga opinyon. Yan ay kukonsidera ng Tri Committee kung tayo ay gagawa ng report,” he shared. 

“Ang amin lamang paki-usap, humarap kayo para magbigay kayo ng inyong opinion tungkol doon sa panawagan ng marami na magkaroon tato ng regulatory policy sa paggamit ng ating mga social media platforms at bigyan ng mas matiging accountability,” Barbers added.

The Tri Committee earlier set its next hearing on fake news on April 8.

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro is hopeful representatives from social media platform Meta, the parent company of Facebook, will attend the upcoming hearing.

Castro, who is a teacher, underscored the importance of educating the public to curb the spread of fake news.

“Kailangan talaga na magkaroon din talaga tayo ng ano ba tinatawag po, yung digital media education din sa ating mga kababayan, para hindi lang sila, pati sa ating mga kabataan, makita nila kung ano talaga yung totoo. Mag-discern nila yung tama at mali, yung truth, facts, kaysa doon sa fake news,” she said in a separate online interview.

Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas called for more accountability from the social media platforms and heightened public awareness.

“So ang gusto sana natin, may accountability yung mga social media platforms na meron tayo. Whether ano man yan, sa legislation  man yan, kasi pinag-uusapan naman yan ngayon, diba? Ano man ang pupwede na hindi talaga mag-spread ng gusto yung mga fake news sa mga platforms. Tapos, dapat merong fact-checking, sabi nga natin, yung mga requirements sa platform para mag-implement ng stricter,” she said. 

“Kailangan yung mga publiko, aware sila, no? Na e-educate natin yung mga citizens natin sa dangers ng fake news at paano sila mag-verify ng information sources,” Brosas added.

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel reminded the public to not go overboard with their pranks.

“Well, April Fool's Day maraming nagpapaalala na huwag i-prank ang mga naghahanap buhay tulad ng mga delivery driver, yung mga tindera, sellers. Tama yan. Pero on a greater scale, ang order ng taong bayan ay serbisyo, hindi panloloko,” he said in a separate online interview.

Meantime, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora on Monday warned those spreading fake news that there are criminal charges that can be filed under the Revised Penal Code.

“I hope that everyone becomes more discerning and would in fact research more about a certain topic. Because of how easy it is to spread news or fake news and lies. People are just doing that left and right,” she said in a phone interview.

“And in fact, we've heard news that a lot of them are paid to do this. So, we should all be discerning and only rely on maybe mainstream media,” Zamora added.