Two readers asked VERA Files Fact Check to look into a television report claiming animal rights advocates marched to protest a dog-shooting incident.
STATEMENT
The TV Patrol Weekend report, broadcast Aug. 26, describes a dog-shooting incident involving a police officer in San Pablo City, Laguna.
The report has since been deleted from the ABS-CBN News website, but not before a Facebook user recorded and reuploaded a copy online.
It includes clips taken from the Manila Animal Rights March a day earlier.
Below the video, a news ticker claimed:
“ANIMAL RIGHTS ADVOCATES AT ANIMAL LOVERS, NAGMARTSA BILANG PROTESTA vs. PULIS (Animal rights advocates and animal lovers marched to protest against cop who shot dog)”
Source: Facebook post containing clip of the TV Patrol video, watch from 0:57-1:14
Reporter Mariz Laxamana, through voice-over, said:
“Samantala, iba’t ibang grupo ng animal rights advocate at animal lovers ang nag-kundena sa ginawang pamamaril ng police sa aso. Isang animal rights march ang ginawa kahapon na layong isulong ang karapatan ng mga hayop at wakasan ang cruelty, o pagpapahirap sa mga ito (Meanwhile, various animal rights advocate groups and animal lovers condemned the dog-shooting incident involving a police officer. An animal rights march was staged yesterday to championforward animal rights and fight against animal cruelty).”
Source: Facebook post containing clip of the TV Patrol video, watch from 0:57-1:14
FACT
The report is misleading.
The Animal Rights March in Manila has been in the works as early as Feb. 8, some six months before the dog-shooting incident happened Aug. 18.
More, reports by GMA News, Inquirer.net and Manila Standard did not link the march to the dog-shooting.
The official Facebook page of the animal rights march said the event aims “to spread the message of animal liberation across the globe.”
“The future is vegan, but we must continue to speak out on behalf of the animals until the day that their suffering ends,” it added
It was the first time that the event, founded 2016 by the United Kingdom animal rights organization Surge, was held in the Philippines.
ABS-CBN has yet to issue an erratum or clarification on the report.
Sources
Facebook post containing clip of the TV Patrol video, Aug. 28, 2018.
Official Facebook page, Animal Rights March Philippines.
Surge, The Official Animal Rights March.
GMA News Official Youtube Account, “Marching towards animal liberation, isinagawa para isulong ang karapatan ng mga hayop,” Aug. 24, 2018.
Manilastandard.net, Animal rights, Aug. 25, 2018.
Inquirer.net, Animal Rights march goes beyond cats and dogs, Sept. 9, 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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