Fabricated graphic misuses news outlet logos to spread false claim on Philippine leader's health
- Published on April 20, 2026 at 07:25
- 2 min read
- By Ara EUGENIO, AFP Philippines
The Philippine presidential office has not confirmed months-long speculations that President Ferdinand Marcos had been diagnosed with a serious illness, contrary to false claims in a fabricated graphic circulating on social media containing logos of various news outlets. Reviews of their official websites show they did not publish reports on the purported announcement, while the fake image differs from the template they use.
"Malacanang's new scheme to avoid talk about the staggering prices of fuel and food because they can no longer control businessmen from hiking the price of goods," reads part of the Tagalog-language post shared on Facebook on April 8, 2026, referring to the Philippine presidential office.
"Breaking news: President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer," reads the attached graphic bearing the logos of Philippine news outlets GMA News, ABS-CBN News and News5.
"Malacanang confirms the President is undergoing treatment and is in the care of a team of medical specialists," it goes on to say.
The graphic was widely shared across Facebook -- racking up more than 30,000 shares -- and fanned speculation about the state of Marcos's health, which started in January after he was hospitalised for an inflammation of the colon (archived link).
The rumours surged again after Marcos skipped an event with returning overseas Filipino workers on the morning of April 6. They were immediately shot down by his office's press officer Claire Castro, who said he was merely busy with other meetings and engagements (archived here and here).
But comments from users suggest they believed the supposed announcement is real.
"His reign of evil is about to end," one user wrote.
Another said: "He is trying to evade accountability by hiding behind an illness."
But the claim is fabricated, as a search on the websites of GMA News, ABS-CBN and News5 did not find reports on the purported announcement (archived here, here and here).
"The graphic is clearly the work of fake news purveyors," Miranda Grapilon, editorial head of ABS-CBN News Digital, told AFP on April 16.
"None of our news platforms (broadcast, website, social media) carried any report pertaining to a supposed cancer diagnosis of the president, or a supposed confirmation of treatment by Malacanang."
GMA News and News5 did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
The falsely shared graphic, which stems from an account that regularly publishes sensational content, also lacks the visual consistency of genuine news graphics produced by the outlets (archived here, here and here).
"Those circulating claims that he is seriously ill are definitely spreading disinformation," Castro, Marcos's spokesperson, told AFP on April 14.
AFP has previously fact-checked misinformation about Marcos's health.
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