Photo of Philippine seafood market doctored to insert image of VP Leni Robredo

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 5, 2021 at 09:40
3 min read
By AFP Philippines

An image shared across Facebook and Twitter appears to show Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo manning a seafood stand at a wet market. The image -- shared after Robredo launched her presidential bid for 2022 -- prompted accusations from some social media users that she staged the stunt in order to "court votes". But the image has been digitally altered; Robredo's head has been inserted on the body of a Filipino seafood stallholder originally pictured by a Philippine broadcaster in 2019.

"My God, what’s this again, mother?" reads the caption alongside this image posted on Facebook on November 30, 2021.

It purports to show Philippine Vice President Robredo posing as a seafood stallholder at a wet market.

Screenshot of altered image taken on December 3, 2021.

The image has also been shared here and here on Twitter; and here, here and here on Facebook.

Robredo has been touring the country since October, after she announced her bid to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte, whose six-year term ends in 2022. AFP reported on the presidential race here.

Comments on the posts suggested some people thought the photo shows a genuine scene.

"You shouldn’t pretend to do something you’ve never done before just to court votes", wrote one.

"Such a hypocrite...Filipinos will suffer if she wins", another wrote.

However, the image has been digitally altered.

A reverse image search on Bing found a matching photo on the website of Philippine broadcaster GMA.

The image’s URL indicates the photo was taken on April 5, 2019 -- two years before Robredo announced she was running for the top job.

The original image shows the face of a different woman, and a name is embroidered on the towel on her shoulder.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the altered photo (L) and the original image (R):

A subsequent online search found a video clip of a segment on GMA's evening news program that corresponds with the original photo.

It was streamed live on GMA’s official YouTube channel on the same day that the original image was published -- April 5, 2019.

The video caption reads: "[Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources]: Ample supplies of select seafood are available; prices have come down".

The news segment featured the effect of the El Niño phenomenon on the country’s food supply.

The news segment featured an interview with the stallholder in the original photo.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the original photo (L) and a frame from the news segment (R), with visual similarities highlighted in red by AFP:

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