Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr (L) raises the hand of his son Sandro (R) as they attend a youth gathering at a mall in Manila on August 12, 2016. ( AFP / TED ALJIBE)

Video of Philippine politician Marcos Jr's son does not show 'response to Duterte criticism'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 3, 2021 at 03:53
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

After outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte slammed presidential hopeful Ferdinand Marcos Jr as a "weak leader", a viral video purported to show Marcos Jr's son expressing dismay over the remarks. The clip has been taken out of context; it shows Sandro Marcos talking about a local political rival with a similar nickname to Duterte in an interview in which he did not mention the president.

The video was posted on YouTube on November 24 and has garnered more than 240,000 views.

"OH MY! SANDRO MARCOS RESPONDS TO PRRD? / BONG GO AND PRRD SLAPPED WITH THE TRUTH!" the Tagalog-language title reads.

Sandro Marcos is the son of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who is seeking the top job in the Philippine presidential election in 2022.

"PRRD" refers to outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who branded Marcos Jr "spoiled" and a "weak leader" in a speech in November.

While Duterte's daughter Sara is running for vice president with Marcos Jr, Duterte endorsed long-time aide Christopher "Bong" Go, who later announced he was exiting the race.

Screenshot of the misleading post taken on November 25, 2021

The video shows Sandro Marcos saying: "I was dismayed a little bit. Even my father was also a little bit disappointed. Sir Rudy already said that whatever happens in the local elections, the national elections are a different fight, so we should be solid. Sir Rudy has said he will support my father."

Duterte goes by the nickname "Rody".

The clip was also shared on Facebook here and here.

However, the posts are misleading.

Keyword searches on Google traced the video to an interview Sandro gave on November 23 to local radio station Bombo Radyo.

The full interview reveals that Sandro was responding to a question about Ria Fariñas -- his opponent in a 2022 vote to represent a district in Ilocos Norte province -- after Fariñas endorsed Christopher Go for president instead of Sandro's father.

"Sir Rudy" is a reference to Ria's father, politician Rodolfo Fariñas.

Sandro did not mention Duterte in the interview.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (left) and the full interview (right).

Screenshot comparison

Contacted by AFP, Sandro said he was referring to Fariñas and not Duterte in the interview.

"This quote used in the fake news was in response to the person I am running against, who is supporting Senator Bong Go, despite her father previously saying they would do otherwise", he told AFP on December 1. "There is no mention of PRRD".

As of December 2, no credible news reports indicate Sandro publicly responded to Duterte's remarks against his father.

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