Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jnr, former senator and son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is surrounded by supporters after attending the recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race at the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) in Manila on April 2, 2018. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP) (AFP / Noel Celis)

Video amplifies misleading claim about Marcos heir’s vice presidency bid

This article is more than one year old.
Published on April 29, 2021 at 07:00
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

A video has been viewed thousands of times in multiple posts on YouTube and Facebook that claim Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has “released evidence” that former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr won the vice presidency in 2016. But the claim is misleading: the video actually shows Duterte holding documents at a media interview in 2017 that do not relate to the 2016 elections. The clip provides no further evidence that Marcos won the vice presidency. In February 2021, the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed the election case filed by Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo.

The misleading video was shared in this Facebook post on April 23, 2021.

It was shared in a group with more than 40,000 members.

A Tagalog-language caption and text superimposed on the video’s thumbnail translates as: “ROBREDO SHOCKED, PRESIDENT DUTERTE GOOD NEWS! RELEASED EVIDENCE [BONGBONG MARCOS JR] HAS ALREADY WON, LENI [ROBREDO] IS FIRED.”

The video’s thumbnail purports to show Duterte holding documents related to Marcos’ vice presidency bid.

(Screenshot of the misleading post taken on April 27, 2021)

Marcos appealed the result of the 2016 election after he lost to Leni Robredo.

The video was shared on Facebook here and here and on YouTube here alongside a similar claim.

But the claim is misleading.

On February 16, 2021, the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed Marcos’ appeal against his election loss, saying he “failed” to prove there had been voting fraud.

The High Court published its 93-page ruling on the appeal case here on April 19, 2021.

Keyword searches and a reverse image search on Google found the video in the misleading posts included this photo of Duterte holding two documents. It was published on the website of the presidential communications office on September 29, 2017.

According to the caption, the image shows Duterte holding documents that purported to prove former Philippine senator Antonio Trillanes -- one of his most vocal critics -- was engaged in money laundering activities.

The documents do not relate to the 2016 elections.

The same interview with Duterte was broadcast here live on state media PTV.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the misleading video’s thumbnail (L) and the original photo (R):

Duterte’s allegation came after Trillanes had the president’s son Paolo brought before a Senate inquiry on his supposed involvement in drug trafficking. The story was reported here by AFP.

The misleading video also contains parts of an interview with Marcos published on a Filipino blogger’s Facebook page in January 2018. Marcos was discussing his appeal against his election loss.

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