A YouTube video claims that investors have decided to leave the country following the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte as a member of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s cabinet. This has no basis.
No official or authoritative sources of information have indicated that Duterte’s decision to step down as education secretary and vice chair of the government’s anti-insurgency body has an immediate impact on investor confidence.
Uploaded on June 20, a day after the vice president announced her resignation, the video bore this headline:
“Matapos MAG-RESIGN sa DEPED ni VP SARA| Ilang INVESTORS UMATRAS NA!?| PBBM, INILAGLAG sa ERE (After VP Sara has resigned from DepEd, some investors have already backed out?! PBBM was left hanging)?!”
Its thumbnail carried a text that read: “After Duterte’s resignation, investors who pledge to the Marcos administration are expected to withdraw? Ilang investors na supporter ni VP Sara aatras na ng pledge sa gobyerno | Ilang mga proyekto matetengga (Some investors who are supporters of VP Sara have backed out of their pledges to the government. Some projects will be left unfinished).
Such claims are unproven. No government agency or business group has indicated that foreign investors are backing out or withdrawing from the country because of the resignation.
The thumbnail is also accompanied by a photo with a headline: “Foreign investor commitments down sharply.” This is an old photo of an Inquirer.net news article entitled “Foreign investment commitments down sharply in Q1 2024” that was published on May 17, a month before the vice president announced her resignation.
The video’s voiceover, citing news reports, said billions of pesos in investments and potential financial assistance from international foundations will no longer be given to the country as a result of Duterte’s resignation. There are no such reports from any media outlet.
The video also played a clip from Duterte’s resignation speech and commentaries from vloggers about her decision to quit the Marcos Cabinet, calling it a wise move.
Uploaded by YouTube channel Showbiz Fanaticz, the baseless video has so far received 92,694 interactions. Facebook users also reposted the link.