A viral post claims that Davao City purchased gasoline from Brunei to address a nationwide fuel shortage. This is false.
The Davao City Information Office said the city government has not held any discussions with Brunei on buying gasoline and denied having any information on gasoline supply from Brunei arriving in the city.
An FB page posted the false claim on March 21 with this caption:
“DAVAO CITY NAKABILI NG GASOLINA SA BRUNEI Nakabili na umano ng gasolina sa Brunei ang Davao City, ayon kay PDP Laban Executive Director Astra Pimentel-Naik. Aniya, dumating na sa Davao City ang gasolina galing Brunei. Dagdag pa niya, ‘Pagkakaibigang hindi mawawasak ng pagsubok.’ May isang video diumano ng mga truck na may dalang gasolina na pinost naman ni Drai Vher na may caption na ‘Salamat Brunei”’ Nahaharap ngayon sa krisis ang bansa dahil sa kakulangan ng suplay ng gasolina dulot ng patuloy na tumitinding tensyon sa Middle East
(Davao City has supposedly purchased gasoline from Brunei, according to PDP Laban Executive Director Astra Pimentel-Naik. She said the gasoline from Brunei has already arrived in Davao City. She added, ‘A friendship that cannot be destroyed by trials.’
A video allegedly showing trucks carrying gasoline was posted by Drai Vher with the caption, ‘Thank you, Brunei.’ The country is currently facing a crisis due to a shortage in the supply of gasoline caused by escalating tensions in the Middle East).”
The caption cites a now-deleted post of PDP-Laban Executive Director Astra Pimentel-Naik from her FB page, saying:
“JUST IN: Dumating na sa Davao City ang gasolina galing Brunei. Terima kasi banyak-banyak Brunei 🙏💚👊 #PilipinasDutertePaRin #PhilippinesBrunei
Pagkakaibigang hindi mawawasak ng pagsubok
(JUST IN: Gasoline from Brunei has arrived in Davao City. Thank you very much, Brunei 🙏💚👊 #PilipinasDutertePaRin #PhilippinesBrunei
A friendship that cannot be destroyed by trials).”
The quote card includes a Nov. 12, 2017 photo of former president Rodrigo Duterte and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, which Naik also used in her post.
The video cited in the caption links back to a March 20 FB post claiming that oil tankers allegedly from Brunei were alighting in Davao City.
The Davao City government denied these claims.
“We have no information regarding the alleged oil supply from Brunei arriving in Davao City. The city government has not held any discussions with Brunei on this matter,” City Information Office head Harvey Lanticse was quoted in a March 21 post by former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez.
The FB page behind the false claim reposted Lanticse’s statement the following day but it added a line that said “Walang Nabiling Gasolina sa Brunei (No Gasoline Purchased from Brunei)”.
Starhorse Shipping Lines Chief Executive Officer Vincent Dominic Reyes said on March 23 that the ship featured in the two false posts belonged to their company. According to him, the oil tankers were docking not in Davao City, but at a port in Lucena City, Quezon.
“You keep talking about Brunei, but that’s just in Dalahican,” he said in Filipino, reacting to a now-deleted copy of the viral post.
On March 24, President Ferdinand Marcos declared a state of national energy emergency through Executive Order No. 110. The measure aims to address potential fuel supply disruptions and stabilize the country’s energy sector amid the escalating Iran war.
The Philippines imports most of its oil needs from the Middle East.
As of writing, the false post published by Facebook page Historya Channel has garnered over 292,000 reactions; 47,400 comments; and 21,000 shares.
