Doctored video of Philippine president hopeful Leni Robredo surfaces as raucous campaign kicks off
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on February 15, 2022 at 04:38
- Updated on March 17, 2022 at 03:41
- 2 min read
- By AFP Philippines
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The video has been viewed more than 600,000 times after it was posted on Facebook on February 9.
It appears to show crowds at a Robredo campaign rally chanting "BBM", to which she responds: "Stop now. Don't be naughty."
"BBM" are the initials of Marcos Jr -- popularly known as "Bongbong" -- the son and namesake of the country's former dictator leading the presidential race ahead of the May 9 vote.
"Bbm bbm is the shout of people from Bicol What now," the Tagalog-language Facebook post reads.
The video was posted one day after Robredo kicked off her presidential campaign in her hometown Naga in the Bicol region, south of the capital Manila.
The video was shared in similar Facebook posts here, here and here; and on TikTok here and here.
Some social media users appeared to believe the video was genuine.
"Even in her hometown, people are supporting BBM. It means that PEOPLE FROM HER HOMETOWN do not trust her," one person commented.
"This is proof that people want change! They want BBM!" another wrote.
However, the video's audio has been altered.
Keyword searches found the original video shared on Facebook on February 8, where the crowd can be heard chanting "Let Dick in!" in Tagalog.
"Dick" is a reference to Richard "Dick" Gordon, a senator whom Robredo has endorsed in his re-election bid in the Senate polls in May.
Robredo appeared to be responding to the double entendre of the crowd's chant when she said: "Stop now. Don't be naughty."
The Facebook user who posted the video said he filmed it at the Robredo rally on February 8.
"I was the one who took the video during the proclamation rally," Joesel Dubas told AFP. "Senator Gordon was about to return to his seat when the crowd started chanting 'Let Dick in'."
The video corresponds to the 2:38:41 mark of the rally's live broadcast on Robredo’s official Facebook page, where the same chanting for Gordon can be heard.
Nowhere in the live video could the crowd be heard chanting Marcos Jr's name.
The doctored video was also debunked by local media organisations ABS-CBN and News5.
March 17, 2022 This article was amended to add a 'Philippine elections 2022' tag in the metadata
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
