A quote card featuring Davao City second district Rep. Omar Duterte saying “10 billion pesos is a small amount of money” and that it is normal for politicians to be billionaires is circulating online. This is fabricated.
Since April 24, Facebook pages and users have posted a quote card with a photo of Omar, eldest son of Davao City first district Rep. Paolo Duterte. It has the logo of DZAR 1026 SMNI Radio.
In the news graphic that identified Omar as “Multi-awarded Entrepreneur and Forbes’ 2018, 2019, 2020 Richest Young Entrepreneur,” he was quoted as saying:
“10 billion pesos is a small amount of money. Kung sasabihin mo na ‘yan lang ang networth ng Tita Sara at Tito Mans, maliit ‘yan. Normal lang sa mga pulitiko na maging bilyonaryo. Kaya ka nga naging pulitiko para tumulong sa mahirap (If you say that’s all the net worth of Tita Sara and Tito Mans, that’s small. It’s normal for politicians to be billionaires. You became a politician to help the poor). If you don’t have money, how can you help the poor?”
This is fake. The younger Duterte did not make such a statement and an ABS-CBN News graphic was altered to make it look legitimate.
A 2020 ABS-CBN quote card about the grandson of former president Rodrigo Duterte apologizing for breaking health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic was manipulated to make it appear relevant to the unexplained wealth issues raised against Vice President Sara Duterte. The logo of DZAR 1026 SMNI Radio Manila was edited and the text was replaced.
DZAR 1026 SMNI Radio Manila’s FB page did not release such a quote card either. The page, which usually releases livestreams, rarely posts news cards.
Omar Duterte’s FB page posted a statement on May 5 warning netizens about the fake quote card.
Omar was not in any of Forbes’ lists of young entrepreneurs and industry leaders, such as 30 Under 30 or the Philippines’ 50 Richest.
The fake graphic circulated two days after the Anti-Money Laundering Council flagged covered and suspicious transactions worth P6.77 billion linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio’s bank accounts, during a House committee hearing on the vice president’s impeachment.
VERA Files has debunked fake quote cards related to the Dutertes.
At least 10 posts by FB users and pages such as Team Tartty (created on Aug. 14, 2024) and Pilipinas sa pagbabago (created on Jan. 9, 2016) has so far collectively garnered 12,736 reactions; 5,193 comments; and 1,512 shares.
