MANILA—Partido Lakas ng Masa senatorial bet Luke Espiritu said Thursday that the rise in disinformation through historical revisionism and denialism should be countered with the truth.

"We have to confront it with the truth. Ang problem lang natin ang forces of revisionism ay maraming pera at the disposal. Billions and billions at their disposal. Tayo wala naman tayong ganoong billions sa disposal natin but it does not excuse us from always doing our obligation," Espiritu told ANC.

(Our only problem is the forces of revisionism have a lot of money at their disposal We do not have billions at our disposal, but it does not excuse us from always doing our obligation.)

"‘Yung mga nabubuhay diyan na martial law victims, they have to come out and they have to explain to the new generation. ‘Look, part ako ng kinulong, part ako ng tinortyur. Kasama ako roon sa tinortyur. Ang pamilya ko ni-rape, dinesaparasidos’. So we have to teach our new generation that," he added.

(Martial law victims who are still with us must come out and explain to the new generation, ‘Look, I was among those imprisoned, tortured. My family was raped. They were disappeared.)

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Espiritu's rebuttal to senatorial bets Larry Gadon and Harry Roque, who are aligned with Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., made waves on social media and he felt he was only doing his obligation to speak for the truth.

"I’m duly-bound to refute because that’s a debate. If we influence our voters with fraudulence, eh di ano nang mangyayari sa’tin? Dapat i-expect nila na kapag may claim silang ganoon mayroon magko-contest nu’n. And I was there and, of course, hindi ako naniniwala roon. Siyempre iko-contest din natin ngayon, alangan namang papayag lang tayo sa claims na ’yon," Espiritu said.

(If we influence our voters with fraudulence, then what will happen to us? They should expect that, when they make a claim like that, that it will be contested. And I was there and, of course, I don't believe that. Of course, we will also contest it, we will not allow those claims.)

"When I went to that debate, that’s part of my obligation na kapag may nakikita tayong ganitong kasinungalingan, hindi pu-pwede na palalampasin natin ’yan. Kasinungalingan ’yan eh. Talagang hindi maaatim ’yan ng isang prinsipyadong tao. Lahat tayo, we do it. We can only combat this false news through the truth. A principled defense of the truth," he added.

(That’s part of my obligation that, when we see a lie like that, we cannot ignore it. That’s a lie. A principled person really will not stand that. All of us, we should do it.)

The labor lawyer felt that the exchange gained traction because it was a sentiment shared by many.

"Na-surprise ako sa extent but I also knew that I was only articulating what everyone else felt . . . Nagkaganoon, naging viral, it’s not because of me; it’s because of the fact na everyone else felt the same na galit na sa historical revisionism," Espiritu said.

(I was surprised by the extent of the social media traction, but I also knew that I was only articulating what everyone else felt . . . It went viral not because of me but because of the fact that everyone else felt the same anger at historical revisionism.)

"Siguro hindi lang nila ma-express sa ganoong klaseng kalawak na platform at dahil in-express ko sa ganoon kalawak na platform kaya natuwa ang mga tao."

(Maybe they can express themselves but not in such a massive platform, and because I did it in such a platform there was a buzz about it.)

Espiritu is part of the senatorial slate of Partido Lakas ng Masa led by presidential candidate Leody De Guzman and running mate Walden Bello.