No, this photo does not show a rally of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 31, 2018 at 19:45
- 2 min read
- By AFP Philippines
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This online post claims the photo below shows a rally held by Duterte supporters to coincide with his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.
The post says: “Duterte Supporters During the #SONA2018.”
In the image, marchers carry a banner that is purportedly adorned with the Duterte campaign symbol of a clenched fist as well as the slogan “DU30”, which is shorthand for the president’s name.
The Filipino messages on the alleged banner translate to: “Shun the Yellows! Fight Corruption”, referring to a nickname for supporters of one of the key opposition parties.
However, the image was manipulated to change the banner’s message.
Several news organisations, including AFP, published photos of the same rally and of the same banner. Those images prove the marchers were protesting against Duterte.
The real banner of the protesters in the original image, when translated to English, says “Shun Duterte’s Cha Cha! Fight Dictatorship!”
“Cha Cha” is a Philippine shorthand for constitutional change. Duterte is proposing to re-write the constitution to create a new federal system where regions would have more power.
Here is AFP’s photo of the protest:
Philippine news site Rappler and daily newspaper Manila Times also published their own photos, which showed the march was against Duterte.
In these pictures, which were taken by three different photographers, there are key details that are the same with the manipulated one.
These details include:
- A person in tan trousers and a white shirt walks on the far right side of the banner.
- A dark-haired person in yellow stands behind the “D” in Duterte, which is toward the left side of the image.
- The flags behind the banners are the same colours.
These details prove the scene in all of photos are the same, except the banner on the misleading image has been changed.
The post referenced at the start of the blog that promoted the misleading image has been shared to Facebook pages with a combined total of more than one million followers, according to Crowdtangle data.
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