Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo. Photo from her office/Facebook.
Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo dismissed as fake news an online post claiming she had been absent from City Hall while secretly traveling to Manila.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Robredo shared a screenshot of the now-deleted allegation, which accused her of misleading the public about her whereabouts and branded her a liar.
She said the account behind the post had been spreading attacks against her since the 2025 local election campaign and was operating under an assumed identity.
Robredo also claimed reports she received pointed to a local politician as the alleged financier of the account, adding that its recent posts appeared to target multiple political figures.
Although she rarely responded to online trolls, Robredo said she decided to address the accusation after someone she respected urged her to correct the misinformation.
She explained that she had reported to her office on Wednesday morning before leaving for the airport for a scheduled trip to Cebu, but returned to City Hall after her flight was canceled and spent the following day working in Naga.
Robredo said she traveled to Manila by bus on Thursday night to attend meetings with the Quezon City government and the Commission on Elections on Friday. She added that she usually traveled to the capital only once a month, combining official engagements with visits to her daughters.
The mayor also denied using public funds for her trips, saying neither official nor personal travel expenses had ever been charged to the Naga City government. She added that the city was preparing a report detailing the travel expenses of elected officials to promote transparency.