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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte statement on passing presidency to Marcos Jr. lifted from a 2016 video

Misleading

A YouTube channel used a six-year-old video to mislead netizens that President Rodrigo Duterte is supportive of the presidential bid of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

YouTube channel APONG GLENN on Feb. 23 used Duterte’s comments on Feb. 19, 2016 while campaigning in Batac, Ilocos Norte, when he was still Davao City mayor running for the presidency.

Back then he promised to end criminality in the country within three months if elected to the top post, and he would pass the presidency to Marcos, who was running for vice president then, if he failed to fulfill his promise.

For this year’s electoral exercise, Duterte has not expressed support for Marcos, who is the running mate of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Tsek.ph partners One News and FactRakers have earlier debunked the claim but it continued to be shared by netizens.

In a Feb. 25 interview with acting Palace spokesperson Martin Andanar, Duterte said he is not certain about endorsing a candidate in the May 9 elections. “I may or I may not but preferably I’d like to stay neutral.”

APONG GLENN (created on May 29, 2008) claimed in the video’s title that Duterte has supported Marcos since 2016. FB page KM ARGEL (created on June 11, 2020) reposted on March 13 a two-minute cut of the APONG GLENN video, claiming in its in-video text that Duterte proved his loyalty to Marcos.

But Duterte called Marcos a “weak leader” and a “spoiled child” on Nov. 19, 2021, when asked about his party’s (PDP-Laban) possible alliance with his daughter’s Lakas-CMD party, which adopted Marcos as its presidential candidate.

KM ARGEL’s video, which got 866,500 interactions on FB, appeared a day after Sen. Imee Marcos, Bongbong’s elder sister, revealed on March 12 that their family has been asking for Duterte’s endorsement of Marcos Jr’s bid. APONG GLENN’s video got over 143,700 views.

 

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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)