Karencitta named Youth Ambassador for Visayas

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuana singer Karen Ann “Karencitta” Cabrera was appointed Youth Ambassador for the Visayas of the Youth for Truth Philippines, a program that combats fake news.

Karencitta confirmed to CDN Digital that she was officially appointed last March 25, 2021, through Youth for Truth Facebook live which was also broadcast in Radyo Pilipinas 1 and IBC TV 13.

Youth for Truth is a program under The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) which covers dismissing disinformation.

https://www.facebook.com/YouthForTruthPH/videos/772237920095243

“Youth for Truth is a campaign combatting fake news. As all we know there is a spread of false and misleading information and prevalent to the society,” Karencitta said.

According to Karencitta, her campaign is to engage the youth and to intensify the combat against fake news and disinformation.

“Especially on Facebook, bisag ako, naexperience nako nga makakita og fake news sa akong news feed. Then kaning mga taw nga mospread sa fake news, they are not aware unsay tinood, unsay dili. My campaign is to eradicate that and to educate more sa citizens about what is true and what is not, and how do we stop fake news,” Karencitta added.

(Especially on Facebook, even in my experience, I see some fake news on my news feeds. Then the people who spread fake news are not aware of what is true and what is not. My campaign is to eradicate that and to educate more citizens about what is true and what is not, and how do we stop fake news.)

Programs

The Youth for Truth with its tagline, “Programa ng kabataan na kontra sa pekeng balitaan,” has taken initiative for truthful news and information through its Dismiss Disinformation campaign.

To solve the widespread problem of fake news, Karencitta said that YFT has three major programs –Multimedia Program, Truth Caravan, and Online Dialogue.

“Unang una, Multimedia Program. Naa mi program every Friday nga mostream sa Radyo Pilipinas 1 and in PCOO Facebook page and sa IBC TV 13 every Saturday,” Karencitta said.

(First, the Multimedia Program. We have a program every Friday that will be streaming on Radyo Pilipinas 1 and in PCOO Facebook page and IBC TV 13 every Saturday.)

Truth Caravan program conducts workshops in media literacy and good governance to increase public knowledge about Philippine governance. However, the program was put off due to the pandemic.

“Para ma-raise ang awareness sa citizen. And ma-involve sila sa mga relevant societal issue,” Karencitta added.

(To raise awareness to citizens and to involve them in relevant societal issues.)

How to stop fake news

Karencitta urged the youth to verify news before sharing it on social media.

“Very simple. Kung makakita ta og balita, we need to ask each other questions before we share the news. We stop, we look, i-verify nato. Mangutana ta asa ni gikan nga balita, is it a reputable source?, kinsa man niingon ana? So dili ta magpataka og balita. We stop, look, and verify,” Karencitta said.

(Very simple. If we see/read the news we need to ask each other questions before we share the news. We stop, we look, verify it. We should ask ourselves: where does this news come from, is it a reputable source, who said that. So we should not share the news right away. We stop, look, and verify.) /rcg