A Facebook post is claiming that Palace Press Officer Claire Castro blames former president Rodrigo Duterte’s “violent leadership” for the June 22 Tacloban City school shooting that left three minor students dead and 20 others injured. This is fake.
The post published on June 27 contains a photo of Castro and this fake quote attributed to her:
“Yung batang namaril sa Tacloban yan po resulta sa marahas na pamumuno ng dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte
(The child who shot people in Tacloban, that is the result of the violent leadership of former president Rodrigo Duterte).”
The post also carried a caption meant to criticize her alleged remarks:
“Hindi na po matino isip ata ng nasa gobyerno ngayon Panay Duterte na lng tamag sinisi nyo kahit anu oa mga nangyayari sa pinas ginoo mo nimo auntie wala ka claire
(The people in the government today seem to have lost their minds. You just keep blaming Duterte for absolutely everything happening in the Philippines. Good grief, auntie Claire, have no sense).”
Castro’s photo used in the post was from the live broadcast of her Feb. 26 press briefing in Malacañang, where she addressed unrelated national issues including the administration’s non-intervention stance on the International Criminal Court pre-trial proceedings, fiscal code reforms, and regional infrastructure updates.
Another FB post with the same graphic was published on the same date, paired with a caption that asks online users for their insights.
In the June 23 press briefing with PNP, Castro did not associate the former president with the tragedy. Instead, she responded to the claims made by Vice President Sara Duterte that a lapse in government intelligence gathering caused the Tacloban incident.
“Ibig sabihin, (ang mga) estudyante dapat minomonitor para sa intelligence gathering? Hindi sila mga terorista. Sila ay mga estudyanteng mukhang diumanong gumon lang sa online gaming na marahas. At kung ‘yan ang sinasabi niya na dapat na minomonitor through an intelligence gathering, bakit kaya noong 2019 sa Masili National High School, Calamba, Laguna ay nagkaroon din ng barilan sa loob ng classroom? Isang 15-year-old, Grade 7 student ang involved. Bakit hindi ito kaya nakita sa intelligence report ng kaniyang ama
(Does this mean students should be monitored for intelligence gathering? They aren’t terrorists. They are students who allegedly just seem addicted to violent online gaming. And if that’s what she is saying—that they should be monitored through intelligence gathering—how come back in 2019 at Masili National High School in Calamba, Laguna, there was a shooting inside a classroom? A 15-year-old Grade 7 student was involved. Why wasn’t this caught in her father’s intelligence report)?”
Castro recalled several security incidents that took place during the previous administration, arguing that tragic and localized acts of violence could not be completely predicted or avoided.
She further added that the vice president should present concrete proposals instead of merely criticizing.
The fake post surfaced after the June 23 press briefing, which was attended by the PNP spokesperson to respond to questions related to the June 22 school shooting in Tacloban City.
Posted by a Facebook user, the post has so far garnered 2,249 reactions, 2,200 comments, and 64 shares.
