Facebook page Silent No More PH in a May 29 post mislabeled two photos to falsely insinuate the Duterte administration is in crisis.
STATEMENT
Silent No More PH, which puts out content critical of the current administration, posted
two photos of several people seated around President Rodrigo Duterte in what seems to be a meeting, with a caption that reads:
“Dear Fellow Filipinos,
Dahil sa sunod-sunod na scandals (Because of a series of scandals) involving public officials, Katay (Butcher) Digong had a meeting with his top leaders!
#WorryMode
#NgaNga (lit. agape)
#AlamNaThis (this is already known)
#SilentNoMorePH”Source: Silent No More PH, May 28, 2018
FACT
The two photos are not of a crisis meeting as the Facebook post suggests. A quick image reverse search instead shows they are of a May 28 Duterte meeting with Congress leaders and members of Bangsmoro Transition Commission (BTC).
GMA News reporter Joseph Morong first posted the photos on his Twitter account:
Duterte April 25 said he will resign if the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law is not passed by May.
The BBL is the enabling legislation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the 2014 peace deal the Philippine government under former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The House of Representatives approved May 30 the proposed BBL on its third and final reading.
The false Silent No More PH post came weeks after several high officials resigned or were fired by Duterte:
- Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo resigned May 8 following reports of the Department of Tourism spending P60 million for advertisements on a PTV program hosted by Teo’s brothers Ben and Erwin
- Teo’s husband Roberto also tendered his resignation as board member of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, according to Palace spokesperson Harry Roque
- Tourism Promotions Board chief Cesar Montano resigned May 21 following reports of his agency spending P80 million on the project Buhay Carinderia
- Transportation Assistant Secretary Mark Tolentino was fired May 22 for allegedly discussing the Mindanao railway project with Duterte’s sister
The post could have reached around 647,000 people.
Sources:
ABS-CBN, “Congress leaves contentious BBL provisions to Duterte,” May 28, 2018
GMA, “Duterte meets lawmakers, Bangsamoro Transition Commission over BBL,” May 28, 2018
Rappler, “Duterte to certify BBL as urgent on May 29 – lawmakers,” May 28, 2018
Joseph Morong, personal correspondence, May 13, 2018
Joseph Morong, Twitter account, May 28, 2018
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
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