IT is becoming increasingly difficult to separate the real from the imagined when it comes to news in recent weeks, and while the media has certainly been complicit in spreading “fake news,” although in most cases apparently inadvertently, the obvious source of much of it has been government officials.

The most noticeable source of misinformation has been Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo, in her new capacity as co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. Although we have suggested that Robredo be given a fair chance to contribute positively to the government’s anti-illegal drug efforts, and still believe that that should be the case; some of her statements have been embarrassingly naïve, and clearly the product of one who speaks before fully informing herself on the subject at hand.