A YouTube video bore a clickbait headline and thumbnail claiming that Japan has given the Philippines two destroyer warships. This is false.
Posted on May 15, the 10-minute and 30-second video carried this headline:
“Ang Pilipinas ay muling nakatanggap ng karagdagan ng dalawang napakadelikadong Japanese destroyer (The Philippines once again received two very dangerous Japanese destroyers).”
Its thumbnail shows two ships bearing Philippine flags docked at a port with the same text with a “breaking news” label.
This is not true. There are no reports of the Philippines receiving the two Japanese ships shown in the thumbnail. The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) still owns and operates JS Izumo and JS Samidare.
The thumbnail photo shows the two vessels docked at a port in Vietnam for a courtesy visit back in June 2023. The Philippine flags were digitally added.
The first half of the video’s narration is a translated 2023 Philippine News Agency report about the two ships arriving in Manila for a goodwill visit after the quadrilateral drills between the Philippines, United States and Australia that year.
Japan previously provided 12 Multi-Role Response Vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard and plans to finance five more.
The erroneous video was uploaded a week after the conclusion of the annual Balikatan Exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States military, where Japan sent observers.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, United States President Joe Biden and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also held a trilateral meeting on April 11 where they highlighted security and defense in the Indo-Pacific region among others.
VERA Files Fact Check recently debunked a Facebook reel claiming that one of Japan’s seaplanes is assisting operations at the BRP Sierra Madre outpost. (Read Video shows Japanese aircraft, NOT PH ‘seaplane for BRP Sierra Madre’)
The false video from the YouTube channel TECH-89M (created on Nov. 13, 2019) garnered
11,200 views. This channel has a history of sharing false information about the Philippines’ military capabilities amid the escalating territorial disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea. (Read PH DID NOT buy AU ship Cape Woolamai)
