An online post claiming reelectionist senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV stole credit from President Rodrigo Duterte for an unspecified Light Rail Transit (LRT) project is fabricated.
Website ddsfilesnews.info on Feb. 28 published a report bearing the headline, “HOT ISSUE: BAM AQUINO INANGKIN ANG LRTSA KANYA DAW HINDI KAY PRRD (Bam Aquino grabs credit for the LRT [he] claims it’s his, not [President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s])!”
It linked a 22-minute video whose thumbnail showed a photo of what appears to be the planned Mega Manila Subway placed in between Aquino and Duterte. It was overlaid with the caption “AKIN YAN (That’s mine)!” in bold yellow–a color associated with the Liberal Party, Aquino’s political party.
Aquino made no such statement at any point in the video. Uploaded at Youtube channel TOKHANG TV, which has a history of posting false and misleading reports, the video spliced together segments of a Feb. 28 episode of CNN Philippines’ New Day program.
The episode opened with a report on the Mega Manila Subway–not the LRT–which began construction on Feb. 27, as part of the Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure program, Build, Build, Build. Aquino was not included in that report.
The re-electionist senator has not issued any official statement on the LRT or the subway groundbreaking as of writing. No legitimate news organization reported on ddsfilesnews.info’s claim.
Two LRT projects are included in the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program:
- The LRT South Extension Project, which has not started; and
- The LRT Line 2 East Extension Project, which has been in the works since 2011.
Ddsfilesnews.info’s fake report, posted a day after the subway project’s groundbreaking, could have reached over 424,000 people. Its top traffic generators are Facebook pages Pres. Duterte ang Agila ng Davao, President Duterte Astig Supporters, and Rody Duterte-BongBong Marcos Partner for Change.
Another report published Feb. 27 by website politicalfeeds.info containing the same video and headline, could have reached over 401,000 people.
Ddsfilesnews.info was created Dec. 4, 2018; politicalfeeds.info on Sept. 28, 2018; and Tokhang TV in November 2016.
Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.
