Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Friday denounced circulating social media posts that falsely claim he is proposing a 50% additional tax on content creators.
Speaking during the Senate plenary session, Sotto called out what he described as a “numerous and coordinated” spread of misinformation, stressing that he has never authored or supported any measure that would impose additional taxes.
“In my 24 years in the Senate, I have never proposed any additional tax measures. In fact, I have consistently voted against it,” Sotto said.
He clarified that his stance has always been to reduce taxes, not increase them.
“For the peddlers of fake news, ipagdadasal ko na lang kayo. Sa ating mga kababayan, huwag kayo basta maniniwala, lalo na ‘pag masama ang balita,” he added.
In an ambush interview, Sotto described the disinformation as “propaganda” intended to discredit him and the Senate.
“I think there is a concerted effort by some quarters. I don’t know who. We’ll try to find out,” he said, adding, “Siguro, walang makita sa amin, eh ‘di gumawa na lang ng imbento, gumawa ng fake news… Of course, to discredit us, most probably.”
