Rappler Facebook post altered to falsely show Philippines councillor turning on impeached VP

The screenshot of the purported Rappler Facebook post was shared on the same platform on March 20. It features a link to a supposed Rappler article with an image of Balaba with Sara Duterte as the thumbnail.

The post appears to read: "Joyleen Mercedes 'Girlie' Balaba, a Cagayan de Oro city councilor, says 'I am happy about the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte because she is the one who has been interrupting my relationship with Digong'."

Digong is the popular nickname for former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The post began circulating on Facebook on February 7, a day after the Philippines' House of Representatives voted to impeach his daughter, Sara, charging her with "violation of the constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes" (archived link). 

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Screenshot of manipulated post taken on April 16, 2025

Balaba is vying for re-election to a councillor seat in Cagayan de Oro city under Duterte's PDP Laban in upcoming May mid-term elections that will determine 12 Senate seats and thousands of smaller positions across the archipelago nation of 117 million (archived link). 

Social media users appeared to be duped by the altered Rappler Facebook post.

"It's election season, politicians have become two-faced again," read one comment. 

"Rappler is such a fake news peddler", another said. 

Balaba has in fact defended Sara Duterte after her impeachment, according to Philippines media reports (archived links here and here).

Keyword searches of Rappler's verified Facebook page shows an article featuring the photo of Balaba and Duterte was shared twice, on September 24 and 25, 2021 (archived links here, here and here). 

The article is headlined, "Duterte's Girlie to run for Congress in Cagayan de Oro, congressman says". 

Similarly, the post reads, "But Joyleen Mercedes 'Girlie' Balaba, a first-term Cagayan de Oro city councilor, says she prefers to seek reelection. #PHVote #WeDecide".

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Screenshot comparison of the altered image (left) and the original Rappler post (right)

Rappler told AFP on April 11 that "this is a manipulated post" and released a statement on its Facebook page warning the public about the altered screenshot (archived link). 

Balaba also posted a statement on Facebook on February 10 that branded the screenshot as "fake news" (archived link).

Sara Duterte backed Balaba's candidacy in 2019 when she first ran for councillor (archived link).