A netizen published on Nov. 9 a misleading post that uses old photos to insinuate that the Liberal Party cheated in the 2016 elections.
The Facebook post featured two images of what appears to be a Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine with a Commission on Elections sticker, secured in the trunk of a red Hyundai sedan.
Its caption read:
“PANAWAGAN SA LAHAT NG KINAUUKULAN…..KUMILOS NAMAN KAYO..
SAAN DADALHIN ANG PCOS MACHINE NA YAN…….BAKIT NAKASAKAY SA PRIVATE CAR………..PAKI SHARE PARA KUMALAT AT MALAMAN NG TAONG BAYAN(Calling the attention of the concerned officials… please do something.. Where will they take that PCOS machine……..why is it hitched to a private car……….. please share so that it spreads and people know about it.”
It also used the hashtag #ElectionFraud2016 and #DayaanMatuwid (#StraightFraudulence), the latter a play on former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s campaign slogan “Daang Matuwid (Straight Path).” Aquino was a former head of the Liberal Party.
The photos can be traced to a post made by a netizen in the Facebook group “WE LOVE AND WE SUPPORT PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE” on May 1, 2016, eight days before the national elections that year. It bore the same caption but did not carry any of the 2018 post’s hashtags.
The online posts provide no information supporting their insinuations of poll fraud or the identity of the person driving the sedan. The date and location where the photos were taken remain unknown.
The post came amid the still unresolved vote recount between the Vice President Leni Robredo, an LP member, and former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who filed an election protest in June 2016 after narrowly losing to Robredo.
The misleading post was created the same day the Sandiganbayan convicted Marcos’ mother, Ilocos Norte Rep. and former First Lady Imelda Marcos, of seven counts of graft for creating illegal Swiss foundations when she and her husband, the late dictator Ferdinand Sr., were in power.
The misleading post has received over 2,800 reactions, over 700 comments, and has been shared by over 61,000 people and pages.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to
fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and
our methodology.)
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