Old Philippine presidential campaign footage misrepresented as Duterte rally in 2024

Published on April 26, 2024 at 03:36
3 min read
By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines

Old footage of the final campaign event for then-Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 was recirculated in false TikTok posts in April 2024 that claimed it showed a mammoth crowd at a recent rally he led against constitutional change. The gathering this year -- which police said about 7,500 people attended -- was yet another sign of a breakdown in relations between Duterte's family and President Ferdinand Marcos, who has backed proposed amendments to the Philippine Constitution.

"Here, already, everyone united at the Mindanao prayer rally," reads Tagalog-language text superimposed on this TikTok video published on April 15, 2024.

It shows an aerial view of a large, dense crowd gathered outdoors.

"This is the rally today, April 14, 2024," additional text on the clip read.

Screenshot of false post taken on April 23, 2024

A third in a series of rallies led by former president Rodrigo Duterte against proposed changes in the Philippine Constitution was held in Tagum City, located on the southern island of Mindanao on April 14 (archived links here and here).

It was yet another sign of a breakdown in relations between Duterte's family and that of President Ferdinand Marcos, who have backed proposed amendments to the charter.

Identical posts were shared multiple times elsewhere on TikTok, including here, here and here.

But the video shows a huge rally in 2016 in the Philippine capital of Manila.

A reverse image search of a frame in the clip led to a Facebook post published on May 8, 2016 -- one day before the country's general elections that year (archived link).

It shows the final campaign rally of then-candidate Duterte and his running mate, former Senator Alan Peter Cayetano held on May 7 (archived link).

A huge crowd of more than 300,000 people gathered at Luneta Park in Manila, police told local media (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the 2016 footage (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the 2016 footage (right)

Photos published by local news outlets GMA News and Rappler in May 2016 corresponded with the enormous Philippine flag held by the crowd, seen in both the original footage and false posts (archived links here and here).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the flag as seen in the 2016 footage (left) and the photo published by GMA News (right):

Screenshot comparison of the flag as seen in the 2016 footage (left) and the photo published by GMA News (right)

Local media footage of the rally on April 14, 2024 -- which was attended by about 7,500 people -- did not include an identical flag (archived links here and here).

AFP has debunked a similar claim about another rally led by Duterte here.

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