A YouTube video is erroneously claiming the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) pledged its support for Vice President Sara Duterte after making assassination threats against President Ferdinand Marcos if she was killed. This is false.
Published on Nov. 25, a YouTube channel published a 36-minute video with the headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG Lag0t na! Men in Unif0rm Nagbabala na? BBM Martin Mananag0t kapag Ginalaw si VP SARA? (Just in, it’s finished! Men in uniform gave a warning? Marcos and [Speaker Martin Romualdez] will be held responsible if they make a move against VP Sara?)”
The thumbnail of the video also bore the following untrue assertion:
“BINALAAN NG MILITAR? AFP HANDA AT NANINDIGANG POPROTEKTAHAN SI VP SARA! (The military made a warning? The AFP is ready and made a stand to protect VP Sara!)”
This is not true. The AFP remains neutral amidst the political feud between Marcos and Duterte.
In a Nov. 23 statement released online, the AFP affirmed its neutrality and said its personnel answer to the Constitution and the Chain of Command. “As a cornerstone of national stability, the AFP shall remain non-partisan, with utmost respect for our democratic institutions and civilian authority,” it stated.
The AFP also asked for cooler heads to prevail amid “these trying times” and called for Filipinos to stand together against forces seeking to cause chaos in our society.
This spurious claim of military support emerged as Duterte defended herself in an open letter dated Nov. 24 after the National Security Council said it will investigate her assassination threat against the president. She said her statement was “maliciously taken out of logical context.”
YouTube channel PINAS NEWS HEADLINES (created on July 24, 2017) published the video with the false claim, garnering over 150,000 views and 6,600 online engagements.
