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VERA Files Fact Check: KOJC members did NOT protest in front of Malacañang

Kingdom of Jesus Christ members went to the Malacañang Palace to overthrow President Ferdinand Marcos.

YouTube channel PINAS BALITA TV 03/20/2024 False

This is not true. The photo shown in the video thumbnail was taken during the prayer rally held by supporters of KOJC leader Apollo Quiboloy in Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila.

A YouTube video claimed that members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) protested in front of the Malacañang Palace in a bid to overthrow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. This is false. 

On March 20, a YouTube channel published a video with the headline:

MATINDI TO TAONG BAYAN nag TIPON-TIPON nasa HARAP ng MALAKANYANG PRES MARCOS FL LIZA NAGPA NIC I-YAK (sic) 

(This is bad. People gathered in front of Malacañang. President [Ferdinand] Marcos and First Lady Liza [Araneta-Marcos] panicked, cried)”

Its thumbnail used a photo of a crowd of people holding a protest and bore this text:

JUSKO (sic) PO PEOPLE POWER NA. ITO ANG END GAME SA BUHAY NG MGA MARCOS (Oh, my God. It’s People Power. This is the end of the life of the Marcoses)”

The photo was not taken in front of the presidential palace where a people power revolution ousted Marcos Sr. more than three decades ago. The video narrator, meanwhile, said seven million people who are members of the KOJC led by Apollo Quiboloy are ready to march to the palace and drag away the Marcos couple from the seat of power.

The narrator also read comments from social media users urging people to gather in front of the  palace to show support for their pastor. 

The photo used in the thumbnail was actually published on March 4 by the KOJC’s media arm Sonshine Media Network International about two weeks before the erroneous video was posted. It was the prayer rally attended by KOJC members in front of the Post Office Building in Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila. 

In another KOJC prayer rally held on March 12, former President Rodrigo Duterte – recently appointed as administrator for the properties of the religious sect – was seen urging supporters of Quiboloy to avoid holding a rally in front of Malacañang to prevent violence. 

This false video appeared a day after the Senate issued an arrest warrant for Quiboloy for his repeated failure to appear before the Senate panel investigating his alleged human rights abuses.

The video with the untrue claim was published by YouTube channel PINAS BALITA TV (created on March 22, 2022), garnering over 54,000 views and 2,800 interactions.

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