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FACT CHECK

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Gov’t TV copycat MISLEADS with Duterte ‘most important speaker in Japan’ video

An impostor of presidential broadcasting channel Radio Television Malacanang (RTVM) misleads with supposed news that President Rodrigo Duterte was declared the “most important speaker” in a recent conference in Japan.

A YouTube channel named MALACAñANG TV published on May 29 a spliced two-and-a-half minute-long report taken from an hour-long May 28 Radyo Pilipinas broadcast.

MALACAñANG TV changed the video of the report to a slideshow of 12 Presidential Communications Operations Office photos of Duterte attending the 25th Nikkei Future of Asia Conference in Tokyo from May 30 to 31. The dubious report was then headlined “BREAKING:PRRD DECLARED AS MOST IMPORTANT SPEAKER IN JAPAN.”

It was only Philippine ambassador to Japan Jose Laurel V who, during the Radyo Pilipinas program, said: “President Duterte is the last and major speaker. He is considered the most important speaker among the five,” referring to the other Asian leaders who were also invited to speak at the Nikkei forum.

The other keynote speakers at the conference were Prime Minsiter Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith of Laos.

Website dutertenews4network.com carried MALACAñANG TV’s misleading video and published the story three days after Duterte came back from the conference.

The MALACAñANG TV video has over 12,000 views. Social media traffic to the story on dutertenews4network.com largely came from the pages Kadayawan Davao, MARCOS LOYALIST and (vf)DDS/ DIEHARD DUTERTE SUPPORTERS.

Dutertenews4network.com was created June 6, 2017. YouTube channel MALACANANG TV, which even dubiously uses the Malacanang logo as its display photo, was created Nov. 26, 2017.

(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)