FACT CHECK: News Article Claiming CPP Founder Sison Serves As Robredo’s Campaign Adviser Is False

Claim: A story published on the Journal News Online on Thursday, April 21, stated that Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison has been serving as an adviser for the presidential campaign of Vice President Leni Robredo.

The article cited the CPP’s news organ “Ang Bayan” as the source of information for Sison’s alleged admission to be part of Robredo’s campaign. It said the CPP founder supposedly had phone calls with Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez on how to initiate a media attack against other presidential candidates.

Rating: False

Facts:

Sison, who is currently in exile in the Netherlands, denied the claims of the article, saying the writer did not reach him for comment on the matter.

“I have not been advising Leni Robredo although I think that she is a far more qualified candidate for president than Ferdinand (Marcos) Jr. who has no qualification but to campaign with too much money from the bureaucratic loot of the late unlamented fascist dictator, Ferdinand Sr.,” he said in a statement on Friday, April 22.

“I have not been consulting with Barry Gutierrez, the spokesman of Robredo,” he added.

Marco Valbuena, the chief information officer of the CPP, said in a separate statement that the article is “obviously fake news in the hope of lending credibility to claims of a ‘coalition’ government between the Robredo camp and the CPP in the hope of consolidating the support of the anti-communist military police officers for Marcos.”

“There was never such a news item published in Ang Bayan,” Valbuena pointed out.

Valbuena said the tactic of red-tagging Robredo and her supporters “is also laying the basis for intensifying acts of suppression against the broad democratic forces.”

Robredo and Gutierrez also debunked the allegations of ties with Sison.

“Absolute lie. Nabaliw na yata (‘yung) writer (The writer must have gone crazy). Desperate much?” Gutierrez said on Twitter.

“Walang katotohanan ang kuwento na ‘adviser’ ko o ng ating kampanya si Jose Maria Sison. Hindi ko pa siya nakakausap kahit minsan, personal man o sa anumang paraan (There is no truth to the claims that Jose Maria Sison is my ‘adviser.’ I have never neither talked to him personally nor through any means),” Robredo said in a statement.

“Kasalukuyang pinag-aaralan na ng ating mga abogado ang pagsampa ng nararapat na kaso para panagutin ang nagpalabas ng kasinungalingang ito (Our lawyers are currently studying the filing of appropriate charges to punish those who spread the false claims),” she added.

In a statement on March 12, the communist group has denied forging any agreement with any candidate or political party running in the national elections, and has denied it was talking to any presidential candidate about the formation of a coalition government.

Why it matters:

The article has earned 41,229 views as of this writing. The story has also been cited on TV reports and on various social media posts, including a TikTok video reposted on Facebook that has generated 2,900 reactions, 663 comments and 41,000 views.

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