Three Facebook (FB) pages reshared an altered video from TikTok falsely claiming that former president Rodrigo Duterte has passed away.
The video, edited to look like a breaking news story from GMA’s 24 Oras, bore this text:
“DATING PANGULONG RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE PUMANAW NA (Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte passed away).”
Its audio was spliced and edited to include the following statement:
“Pumanaw na po | si dating pangulong Rodrigo Duterte | Ayon sa Office of the Press Secretary, pumanaw ang dating pangulo sa edad na 94 kanina. Naghatid sila ng pakikiramay sa pamilya, kaibigan, at mga mahal sa buhay.”
(Former president Rodrigo Duterte | has passed away | According to the Office of the Press Secretary, the former president passed away at the age of 94 a while ago. They have sent their condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.)
In a June 20 FB post, Sen. Bong Go debunked the death hoax by posting a live video of him alongside Duterte.
“Wala naman akong sakit at feeling ko hindi naman ako mamamatay ngayon agad (I’m not sick and I feel I’m not going to die any time soon),” Duterte said.
The video continued to circulate despite the denial but many netizens commented it was fake.
A quick Google search of the keywords “24 Oras” and “pumanaw” and “edad na 94” shows that the original news report referred to the death of former president Fidel Ramos, who passed away on July 31, 2022.
On June 17, a day before the claims appeared, the 79-year-old Duterte addressed his supporters at a peace rally in Angeles, Pampanga. He said he only seeks reforms and does not want to topple the administration of incumbent president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
A search on TikTok reveals that the fake video’s manipulated audio originated from this 24 Oras Express clip about Ramos’s death. Another search on YouTube shows that the thumbnail is an edited screengrab from this 24 Oras’ news report dated Nov. 22, 2021.
Among those that posted the fake videos are TikTok user @kiligantv, as well as FB pages BunsoTv, TVJ at TV5 Fanpage, and a netizen. These five clips garnered a total of over 60,000 reactions, 8,500 comments, 6,683 shares, and 3.4 million views.