Posts claiming Philippine leader hospitalised misuse old clip

"Police force crowd the entrance of St Luke's Hospital," says Tagalog-language text overlaid on a Facebook video shared April 8.

It shows police officers arriving in front of an emergency room.

"So many police at St Luke's, what's going on?" reads the caption, followed by a hashtag that reads "BBM RESIGN", referring to the popular initials of Marcos.

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Screenshot of false Facebook post taken on April 9, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

According to several news reports, Marcos failed to attend an event with returning overseas Filipino workers on the morning of April 6, fuelling rumours he was ill (archived here, here, here, and here).

He attended other events that day, held within the Malacanang presidential palace (archived here and here).

The video was shared widely on TikTok and Facebook, and drew comments from people who believed it was proof Marcos was in hospital.

"Of course there would be a lot of police where the president is," one wrote.

"I hope he's finished," another comment read. "VP Sara is the new president of the Philippines!" it added, referring to Marcos's former ally-turned-rival Vice President Sara Duterte.

Misused video

However, a reverse image search using keyframes from the clip found it was earlier posted on TikTok on November 23, 2024 (archived link).

Keyword searches found local news reports published on the same day that carried similar imagery from the hospital (archived here and here).

An article from ABS-CBN News said Vice President Duterte's chief of staff was taken there (archived link).

"Security remains tight at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City following the transfer of Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez who was admitted early Saturday morning after falling ill," it reads.

"Vice President Sara Duterte accompanied Lopez throughout the process and has stayed by her side since last night."

Lopez was hospitalised after being detained for "undue interference" during a House inquiry on the vice president's controversial confidential funds (archived link). 

Moreover, visual clues in the footage show Christmas decorations displayed outside the emergency room, and a Christmas tree in front of the hospital building.

An AFP journalist found there were no ornaments on display as of April 10, 2026. The hospital’s security said Christmas decorations are taken down in January.

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Screenshot comparison of the keyframes in the falsely shared Facebook reel, and a photo captured by an AFP journalist on April 10, with differences highlighted in red.

'False information'

The president's office did not release any medical advisory, but instead shared a video of Marcos addressing the rumours on April 8 (archived link).

In the clip, Marcos said he currently had "no health problems" and urged the public not to take "playful" social media posts seriously.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro also said they will file a case against those "spreading false information" (archived link).  

After similar rumours of Marcos' ill health spread in January, Castro said the president spent a night at St. Luke's Medical Center, a private hospital located in the Philippine capital Manila (archived here and here).

Marcos said at the time he was diagnosed with diverticulitis, a painful inflammation in the walls of the large intestine (archived link).