This photo shows a fundraising event for cancer research in Italy

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 29, 2021 at 11:01
Updated on October 29, 2021 at 11:05
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

A photo has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook alongside a claim it shows overseas supporters of Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo wearing pink -- the colour of her 2022 presidential campaign. The claim is false: the photo shows a fundraising event for cancer research in Italy. It has circulated online since at least 2019.

The photo was posted on Facebook on October 24, 2021. It has been shared more than 700 times.

The post's Tagalog-language caption translates to English in part as: "This is just a sample, in another country, where they also support pink... I'll see you in 2022. #LetLeniLead2022".

Screenshot of misleading post taken on October 28, 2021

The post circulated online after Robredo, an arch-rival of President Rodrigo Duterte and staunch critic of his deadly drug war, announced she will run for the top job in 2022.

Her campaign has extensively used pink, with Robredo noting it is "the colour of protest".

The photo was also shared on Facebook here and here alongside a similar claim.

Comments on the posts by some social media users indicate they were misled.

"Wow, so many are wearing pink. [Vice President] Leni is a sure win", one wrote.

But the claim is false.

A reverse image search on Google combined with keyword searches on Facebook found the photo was posted on October 6, 2019 -- two years before Robredo declared her presidential bid.

The post was shared in a Facebook event called "PittaRosso Pink Parade 2019".

The event's description states: "PittaRosso Pink Parade is a five-kilometre walking event dedicated to 'Pink is Good', a project of the Fondazione Umbero Veronesi that promotes prevention and scientific research against tumours in the breast."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (L) and the 2019 photo (R):

Further keyword searches found similar images of the event on PittaRosso's website.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (L) and a similar image from the PittaRosso website (R) showing an arch that reads: "PittaRosso 2019 Pink Parade / Milan, October 6, 2019".

Donatella Barus, editor of the Fondazione Umbero Veronesi magazine, confirmed the photo shows a fundraiser event for cancer research.

"[It's] dedicated to promote awareness and finance the scientific research on breast cancer and gynaecological cancer (uterus, cervix and ovaries)", she told AFP on October 28.

The annual parade began in 2014, she said.

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