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Resisting Disinfodemic: Media and Information Literacy for everyone
and, by everyone

Vince Ervin V. Palcullo is a Registered Librarian in the Philippines since 2017. He is currently pursuing his
Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) in Central Philippine University (CPU) where he also
graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Library and Information Science (BLIS) in 2016. He previously worked
as the Collections Management Officer of Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA), Megaworld Corp.
under the Marketing/Commercial Division here in Iloilo City. His research interests are in Information
Behavior, Disaster Management, Citation Analysis, Systamic Review, and History and Culture. Together with
his colleagues, they have published several papers in international peer reviewed journals. Last September
2019, they presented one of their papers in the Joint Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts - Universiti
Malaysia Terengganu (Joint ASFA-UMT) Conference in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. At present, he is
affiliated with CPU as an instructor, and Archives and Special Collections Librarian.

In a world where everything seems to be a race, information surely has its own category. In this race, we,

the people, could either be winners or collateral damage. It is a game of speed and time, and those bettors
who have specific selfish agenda would always boost the speed of false information, leaving the truth

behind in the middle of an unfair game. As Jonathan Swift said, “Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping
after it.”

We are all vulnerable. In the current situation, who is left unaffected? It is not only the challenge of the
health crisis that is currently being battled by the world today. Alongside the global pandemic is another

plague that poisons every nation and society in the world: the “infodemic”. Infordemic is “an excessive
amount of unfiltered information concerning a problem such that the solution is made more difficult”

Eysenbach (2009).

Information is one of the most essential commodities for a society to function, thus, people must consume
only true and relevant information. Information can empower and liberate, however some individuals
use this to purposely cage people from the truth and cause harm deliberately. This is where disinformation

comes in.

Manipulation of information is not new. It seems that it is already embedded in the fabric of mankind.
With its profound characteristics, disinformation poses great danger if taken for granted because it can

mislead people which, to some extent, will result in a divided and conflicted society. It is natural for a
person to stand for what he strongly believes in, and if this mentality will be purposely fueled by
disinformation, then it can domino into massive corruption, uncontrollable anomalies, widespread

manipulations and concealment of the truth, misdirected justice, and repugnant violence.

Mass media has progressed enormously, from being a one-way street where only media outlets can deliver
news and information to the public into an interactive media setting where people who have access to the

Internet can express themselves. With the freedom of expression which every citizen of a democratic
country is entitled of, it is very easy to convey statements that can ripple into a huge wave of
disinformation.

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