A Facebook post claims that Germany has issued a statement saying the “Philippines is not easy,” which supposedly surprised other world leaders. This is fake.
Published on Nov. 19, the post that continues to circulate this week bears a text that says:
“Germany nagsalita na (Germany has spoken). Philippines is not easy!”
It has a caption that reads:
“OMG! NAGULAT ANG MGA WORLD LEADERS SA BIGLAANG PAHAYAG NG GERMANY TUNGKOL SA PILIPINAS! ANG TUNAY NA MENSAHE, IKINATAKA NG BUONG MUNDO! Buong detalye nasa comments
(World leaders were surprised by Germany’s unexpected statement about the Philippines. The real message puzzled the entire world! Full details in the comments!”
The post has a thumbnail using photos of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. separately with former German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz, the current chancellor who assumed office last May 6.
One of the photos used was from a joint media briefing of Scholz and Marcos on March 12, 2024 in Berlin, during the latter’s working visit to Germany.
A Google reverse image search revealed that the photo of Merz was taken from Getty Images during his handover ceremony in Berlin on May 6, 2025. Beside Merz is an image of Marcos, which appears to have tell-tale signs of being AI-generated. Marcos’ eyes appear cartoonish and too close to one other, while his hair and skin are unnaturally smooth and blurry.
Marcos only had a phone call with Merz last July 31, when they discussed ways to strengthen the defense and economic cooperation between the Philippines and Germany.
The post has a link leading to a fake article dated Nov. 18, attributing the quote “Philippines is not easy” to Dr. Heinrich Muller, identified as Germany’s minister for economics.
Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and energy is Katherina Reiche, who took over the position from Dr Robert Habeck last May 6.
Germany’s national archives showed one Heinrich Mueller, not Muller, a Gestapo or Nazi secret police chief during Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship. Mueller died in 1945.
The fake article also mentioned a certain Diwa Rosales, described as a presidential spokesperson, who was quoted as saying that the Philippines recognizes Germany’s assertions on the country’s improvements.
Undersecretary Claire Castro is the current Palace press officer, a position formerly known as presidential spokesperson. The list of former spokespersons on the website of the Presidential Communications Office does not include one Diwa Rosales.
Another person quoted in the fabricated story was Ramon Ilustre, supposedly a professor and political analyst at the University of the Philippines. The directory of UP campuses with a political science program — Diliman, Manila, Cebu, Baguio and Tacloban — does not log any Ilustre.
Upon browsing the website of the Federal Government of Germany, VERA Files Fact Check did not find any statement from the German government or any of its ministers commenting on the Philippines.
The dubious post instructs netizens to click the link attached in the caption to access the entire story, but the accompanying link redirects netizens to a fake news site filled with ads.
The fake post by Facebook page Philippine Pie (created on July 18, 2016) has so far garnered 1,000 reactions, 424 comments and 63 shares.
