A clip is circulating online of television host and senatorial candidate Willie Revillame supposedly airing his frustrations over his electoral defeat. This is misleading. The video was shot before the May 12 polls.
Since May 13, Facebook (FB) pages have been sharing a 26-second clip of Revillame allegedly “crying” over his loss in the midterm elections. An FB Reel video carried the caption:
“Willy (sic) Revillame umiyak sa pagkatalo Niya sa senado (Willie Revillame cried over his defeat in the senatorial election)….“
In the video, Revillame can be heard saying:
“Sa kampanya, hinahanap artista. ‘Pag nanonood kayo sa sinehan, sino bang pinanonood ninyo? Artista. ‘Pag nakikinig kayo ng music, sino bang pinakikinggan ninyo? Entertainer. Tapos pag tumatakbo na kami at ‘pag gusto naming mag-serbisyo, ayaw niyo? ‘Di ba? That’s a lot of nonsense. I can’t believe this. Okay? Hay naku. That’s a lot of nonsense, everyone. Hay buhay
(In campaigns, they look for artists. When you go to the cinema, who do you watch? Celebrities. When you listen to music, who do you listen to? Entertainers. But when we are run for office because we want to serve, you do not like it? Right? That’s a lot of nonsense. I cannot believe this. Okay? Oh well. That’s a lot of nonsense, everyone. That’s life).”
These posts are misleading. The clip was taken from Revillame’s livestream in the middle of the campaign in March. Revillame did not make such a statement after the elections.
A YouTube channel that regularly posts content related to the celebrity posted a recording of Revillame’s livestream on March 5. The TV host’s official FB page also uploaded clips from the same livestream.
Revillame’s statement was in response to those criticizing celebrities running for public office, not about his dismay at the midterm election results and his defeat. Neither did he cry in the video.
The clip resurfaced online with a misleading context a day after the elections. Revillame is currently ranked 22nd among the senatorial bets in the partial and unofficial results as of May 15. Revillame, who ran as an independent, has yet to issue a statement about his run for office and losing.
VERA Files has debunked other election-related mis- and disinformation about the midterm polls.
Four misleading posts by FB pages such as Trending Pilipinas (created on Dec. 28, 2020 as Siram Sana) and EZ Mil (Jan. 31, 2021) collectively garnered 22,357 reactions, 4,815 comments, 12,423 shares and 4,360,400 views.
