Conspiracy narratives 'corrode trust in public institutions,' analyst warns
MANILA, Philippines — Politically charged "conspiracy narratives" create uncertainty among the public and weaken public institutions, a political analyst said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Malacañang released an expanded diagram of what it said was a "deliberate" plot by the Liberal Party, the Magdalo group and some media companies to destabilize the Duterte government and muster support for senatorial candidates running under the opposition ticket.
The Palace, in an earlier announcement of the supposed conspiracy in April, claimed that its "matrix" was of a plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
"The release of conspiracy narratives either against the Duterte administration or against the opposition (by some within the Duterte administration) is creating an environment of uncertainty that we can do without," Ronald Mendoza, dean of the Ateneo School of Government, told Philstar.com in an email.
“When these narratives are tainted by political motivations, it corrodes trust in public institutions,” Mendoza added.
On Tuesday, journalist Ellen Tordesillas, who is among those included in the Palace's diagram, stressed there is no such thing as an ouster plot involving journalists.
"Why do they have to concoct this ‘Oust Duterte’ plot? They want to destroy the media. Why do they want to destroy the media? Because that’s the only institution left who is standing up to Duterte," she added.
She also said that Duterte "controls the House, he controls the judiciary and he’s about to control the Senate.
"The only institution he's not controlling is media," she said.
'Groups out to discredit government'
Citing supposed intelligence information that he provided little proof of, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told a press conference that certain groups are out to "discredit the administration and to boost the candidacy of the opposition."
Panelo’s fresh claim came after an “oust-Duterte” diagram linking journalists and pro bono lawyers to a supposed plan to unseat Duterte was released last month in an exclusive banner story of broadsheet Manila Times and later in a press briefing at the Palace.
The groups tagged in the previous ouster plot matrix had denied the allegations and slammed the Duterte administration for putting the lives of journalists and human rights lawyers in danger. Meanwhile, the Manila Times’ managing editor resigned a few days after the story was published and said the report was “poorly sourced.”
After receiving public backlash, Panelo backtracked from his claim that the previous matrix came from the president himself and admitted that the source of the information was an “unknown number” that he was sure was from the Office of the President.
On Wednesday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he has not seen the new ouster matrix but said “the [Department of Justice] will study this further to determine if there is enough factual basis to refer this new matrix to the [National Bureau of Investigation] for investigation.”
Police and the military earlier said they have not monitored any specific threat to oust the president. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
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