A photo of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, hand resting on a briefcase filled with cash while talking to fellow lawmakers, has spread on Facebook (FB), after the House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte. This is fake.
The original image, taken nearly two years ago, does not show bundles of cash on the table.
Posted on Feb. 6, a day after Duterte was impeached, the fabricated photo bore the caption:
“After Impeachement…(sic) If the price is right everything is alright.”
Along with Romualdez, the photo featured three other lawmakers who signed the impeachment complaint against the vice president, namely Mandaue City Rep. Emmarie Ouano-Dizon, Zamboanga City Rep. Mannix Dalipe, and presidential son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos. Also in the photo was former Negros Occidental Rep. and current TESDA director general Kiko Benitez.
The original image uploaded by Rep. Ouano-Dizon on her Instagram account last May 24, 2023 does not show stacks of cash but a white folder on the table.
(Note: Click on the left image to visit its original source.)
According to Ouano-Dizon’s post, the picture was taken by Bohol Rep. Vanessa Aumentado and shows her meeting with Romualdez, Dalipe, Marcos and Benitez “to deliver quality programs and projects to the Lone District of Mandaue.”
The House also issued an advisory on their FB page on Feb. 7 and said the circulating photo is digitally manipulated. The advisory further read:
“The first image circulating online is a maliciously edited and fake version of an actual meeting Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez had with colleagues in Congress. The truth? The original photos show a productive and cordial discussion—no stacks of cash, no fabricated narratives.”
The Lower House impeached Duterte on Feb. 5, with 215 lawmakers signing the verified complaint. That number has since grown to 240 as of Feb. 7.
Duterte is being accused of graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes, including bribery and conspiracy to commit murder. She is set to face trial in the Senate.
Uploaded by FB page Jojo De Guzman Konek TV (created May 21, 2020), which is being managed from Hong Kong, the photo received 4,800 interactions.
