Vice President Leni Robredo debunked a now-deleted Facebook post claiming that she ordered a hundred food trays from a Cebu-based restaurant via “cash on delivery” for a supposed campaign rally.
The official, who is running for president in the 2022 elections, shared a screengrab of the restaurant’s Facebook post prior to its deletion. It alleged that she asked for 100 food trays for her “campaign” in Cebu using her official page, VP Leni Robredo.
The restaurant shared a supposed screengrab of the message from her page, which reads:
“Hello Cusina Lucas mag order po ako ng Food trays nyo 100 Trays for my Campaign dito sa Cebu. I’ve heard a lot of your food na ang sobrang SARAP. :)”
The page’s response in the supposed exchange reads:
“[Sige] po Maam VP Leni pero Payment first po (hug emoji)”
The restaurant captioned the post with the following caption:
“Hala! sorry walang COD payment first po muna Maam.. (emojis of face-with-monocle and flushed face)”
A Facebook user noticed that the post didn’t include a screenshot of Robredo talking about “COD” or cash on delivery as a payment scheme. COD is mode of payment when a customer pays for the item through cash upon its arrival.
“Marketing strategy para libreng PR?” the Facebook user asked in the comments.
The restaurant thanked the Facebook user “for figuring it out.”
“This is merely a Marketing Strategy. Thank you (smiley face) no hate po (smiling face-with-hearts emoji)”
Robredo slammed the move and said that she, nor her office, has not made any transaction with the restaurant.
“False advertising ito—hindi gagawin ni VP Leni o ng OVP ang ganitong klaseng transaksyon. Sa kanilang post, inamin ng naturang restaurant na marketing strategy lamang ito,” she said pn her official page on Monday.
“Habang todo ang suportang ibinibigay ng OVP sa mga MSMEs, hinihikayat natin sila na maging responsable at makatotohanan sa paglabas ng anumang promo material sa social media. Patuloy po tayong mag-ingat sa disinformation at fake news,” Robredo added.
MSMEs refer to micro, medium and small enterprises.
As of writing, the post is no longer on the restaurant’s page.
A Facebook user said that the establishment should offer a “public apology” for making some people believe that the supposed conversation is true.
“Making a fake convo, amidst a generation who easily believes in fake news, is a no-no. Your fake convo could be used to bash Leni,” he said.
“I hope you’ll have some decency to at least post a public apology,” the online user added.
“They say, bad publicity is still publicity. But integrity matters too in a business,” he further said.
Robredo has been a victim of several fake news and online posts, even prior to the elections.
Earlier this month, a quote card that claimed that she wanted everyone to have cars as a solution to traffic circulated online. The quote card is “fake.”
