This photo has been doctored – the original shows a 2010 road crash involving a Philippine broadcaster’s vehicle
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 18, 2020 at 06:55
- 2 min read
- By AFP Philippines
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The photo has been shared more than 100 times after being posted on Facebook here on November 12, 2020.
Showing what appears a screengrab of a news report, the photo is overlaid with text that reads: "ABS-CBN VAN TOPPLES WHILE THEY’RE MONITORING DOLOMITE IN THE MIDDLE OF TYPHOON ULYSSES.”
The post states: “YOU DESERVE THAT ABS-CBN! Metro Manila was flooded, and Dolomite is still your concern?? You cannot bring down the popularity and trust of the people on (President Rodrigo) Duterte just because of that Dolomite!”
Ulysses is the Philippine name for Typhoon Vamco, the deadliest storm to hit the Philippines this year. The typhoon killed dozens and inundated portions of the main island Luzon, including the capital Manila, in November 2020.
“Dolomite” refers to a controversial government project that aimed to create an artificial beach in a portion of the Manila Bay, a harbour west of the capital, using crushed dolomite rocks.
The same photo alongside a similar claim was also shared on Facebook here, here, here and here.
The claim is false; the photo was taken from an unrelated 2010 news report.
Reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the photo corresponds to the 17-second mark of this ABS-CBN video report. It was posted on YouTube on June 20, 2010.
The ABS-CBN report is captioned: “Two members of the ABS-CBN News crew were wounded, but are safe, when the van they were in toppled at the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway.”
The original text overlay in the video states: “ABS-CBN VAN TOPPLES AT SCTEX; 2 WOUNDED.”
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and a scene in the original ABS-CBN video report (R):
ABS-CBN also denounced the doctored photo in this statement, which it posted here on Twitter on November 13, 2020.
The statement contains a screenshot of the photo, stamped “FAKE”, with the digitally altered text overlay highlighted.
The tweet states: “Spreading lies and malicious information at a time of calamity is a disservice to the country. Stop disinformation. It is not true that an ABS-CBN van tipped over during the coverage of typhoon #UlyssesPH. The image was from a 2010 report on an accident.”
Spreading lies and malicious information at a time of calamity is a disservice to the country. Stop disinformation.
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) November 13, 2020
It is not true that an ABS-CBN van tipped over during the coverage of typhoon #UlyssesPH. The image was from a 2010 report on an accident. https://t.co/oenvnBKoEx pic.twitter.com/SJb7OqGfc7
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