Piglasapat allegedly sensationalized its credentials to “fatten their credibility” for the election, an informant told Atenews.

A message enclosing the projects and roles of Piglasapat alumni was disseminated to a Nursing group chat as one of the campaign materials supporting the said political party.

However, a nonpartisan student, who chose to be unnamed, informed Atenews that some of the details regarding the roles of Piglasapat stated in the said message “invalidated the efforts of the people and organization” that worked hard to materialize their respective projects.

In the message, it said that “without Khryzza Pinzon, PH Mental Health Bill may not exist.”

“It’s unfair for the people who was fighting for that bill knowing na may other people na nag-work hard sa bill na ‘yun,” the informant, who was a member of the organization that served as one of the manpower of Sen. Risa Hontiveros in pushing for the PH Mental Health Bill, emphasized.

The informant also said that it would have been acceptable if the message was worded like, “Yzza Pinzon was a staunch supporter that helped in pushing for Mental Health Bill.”

“I think that’s more accurate in packaging what really Yzza did instead of invalidating the people who were working hard for the project. Kasi ang dating nun if wala siya, wala talagang mental health bill,” the informant explained.

Another claim is that the organization spearheaded Mindanao Week of Peace and Blue Vote which were events organized by the University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council (UCEAC).

Meanwhile, Piglasapat Campaign Manager Trixy Marie Macaraeg admitted to the “wrong choice of words” used by the organization’s member.

“Gina-acknowledge namin ang accountability sa nangyari na misinformation about the credentials of Piglasapat. However, after he sent the message, ‘yung na-point out na na may mali, he immediately sent an erratum to clarify na ito talaga ‘yung totoo. It’s not our intention to invalidate ‘yung mga kasama ni Ate Yzza sa pag-formulate ng bill,” she stressed.

“It was not also just Piglas lang din ang naghirap. It (passing of Mental Health Bill) was through the efforts din of the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines with other organization like Youth For Mental Health,” Francis Consolacion, the lone presidential candidate of Piglasapat, cleared.

He also pointed out that most of the misinformation was made by the political organization’s first year members.

“Siguro they got carried away… After that (incident), we immediately called out all our first year members and then, inform them of election etiquette, social media etiquette to avoid any miscommunication especially in social media,” he said.

Macaraeg also clarified that the message sent was not a campaign paraphernalia, but only a message from a single member, who failed to consult the core members before sending the said information.

“He is a member, not an officer. Initiative niya lang. It’s our lapse din siguro as overall campaign manager and officers na hindi namin maayos naorient ang aming constituents regarding spreading information about Piglasapat,” she added.

After the said issue, Piglasapat core members released the organization’s election guidelines among its members in order to avoid future misunderstandings.