Philippine boxing icon and Senator Manny Pacquiao (R) gestures as he asks questions to retired police officer Arturo "Arthur" Lascanas (L) at a Senate hearing in Manila on March 6, 2017. The former police aide of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he was part of a "death squad" that took part in over 300 killings when Duterte was a city mayor. ( AFP / TED ALJIBE)

Doctored video shared in false posts claiming Philippine politician berated President Duterte

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 29, 2021 at 05:53
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

A video has been viewed more than a million times in Facebook, TikTok and YouTube posts that claim it shows Filipino boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao purportedly berating President Rodrigo Duterte following reports they had a political falling out. But the claim is false: the video has been doctored to digitally insert Duterte’s image onto the original footage that does not show Pacquiao berating him.

The video has been viewed more than a million times after it was shared here on Facebook on June 2, 2021.

It appears to show a split screen with Senator Manny Pacquiao on one side and President Rodrigo Duterte on the other.

The video’s Tagalog-language caption translates in part as: “MANNY PACQUIAO SLAMS PRES. DUTERTE IN SENATE.”

Text overlaid to the video claims: “BREAKING NEWS / YOU ARE VERY RUDE MANNY PACQUIO [sic]” -- with Pacquiao’s name misspelled to read like an expletive.

A screenshot of the misleading post taken on June 23, 2021

The misleading post circulated online following reports of infighting within the PDP-Laban political party -- where Pacquiao and Duterte belong.

Pacquiao and Duterte later publicly traded barbs on foreign policy, CNN Philippines reported.

An identical video was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here and here; TikTok here; and YouTube here.

However, the claim is false: the video has been doctored.

A Google reverse image search of video keyframes combined with keyword searches found the original footage uploaded here on the official YouTube page of the Philippine Senate on Jun 2, 2021.

The video in the misleading posts corresponds to the 47:49 to 1:01:20 mark of the original footage. However, the original footage had been digitally altered to insert this image of Duterte.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored video (L) and the original footage (R):

AFP analyzed the original footage and found it does not show Pacquiao berating Duterte as the misleading posts allege.

The senator only mentioned the president when he was discussing electrical power disruptions in parts of the country since May.

Pacquiao’s remarks about the power disruptions were reported by local media organisations GMA News, Inquirer.net and Rappler but these reports also do not indicate he berated Duterte.

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