Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Thursday said there is a need to prosecute fake news peddlers, noting the negative effects of the rise of misinformation and disinformation to the Philippines and the rest of the world.

 “Alam mo napakahirap yung ating condition ngayon is, itong fake news, napaka saklap ng epekto, it’s not only the Philippines, it’s the entire world that is suffering the brunt of the deceit that is derived from fake news. Napaka saklap. Dapat talaga maprosecute yan,” Bersamin said in a Malacañang interview.

The Palace has welcomed the NBI’s effort  to seek assistance from the Interpol in investigating and tracking down Filipinos based in other countries who are spreading fake news.

The NBI is also investigating at least 20 personalities who are suspected of being part of an organized network propagating fake news, with government officials and political personalities as targets.

 “‘Yung mga operations na yan we leave that to the people who are on the operating line. Because if we make announcements, then there is a variance from them. It’s not easy to explain. We might be contradicting each other. So, we leave that to NBI if it is going to implement a course of action like that,” he said.