At least nine Facebook (FB) users and FB page Paghiliusa posted a fake quote card last Dec. 28 and 29 where American comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres commended President Rodrigo Duterte’s COVID-19 response, while saying that the Philippines has the “worst citizens” for rallying against the government.
This is fabricated. A Web search does not turn up any news report from local or international media where DeGeneres spoke about the Philippines or Duterte.
The television personality, known for giving away gifts to her daytime talk show audience, was referred to in the spurious quote card as “Ellen the Generous.” It also used a photo of DeGeneres taken by American photographer Glenn Francis in October 2011, uploaded on Wikimedia Commons. Beside it was the concocted statement:
“President Duterte’s effort against the COVID-19 should be appreciated by the Filipinos. They should appreciate it instead of rallying all night, all day. They are promoting the transmission of COVID-19. Though the Philippines has a controversial government, It has the worst citizens, particularly it’s (sic) opposition.”
Some versions of the made-up quote card carried four unrelated logos: those of media outfits Rappler and CNN Philippines, and political parties Kilusang Bagong Lipunan — founded by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos — and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, chaired by Duterte.
Another logo, reading “Yes na Yes Movement” can be traced to an FB page and public group of netizens jokingly claiming that Korean pop girl group Twice is pro-Duterte. The typeface used on the logo is the same used in Twice’s single “Yes or Yes.” But the fake quote card is not on the FB group or page.
The earliest traceable copy of the quote card was uploaded by the page Paghiliusa, whose version did not yet carry the five logos. Paghiliusa was created on March 26, 2020 .
A post by a netizen in the public FB group Solid Duterte supporter at totoo na balita para sa mamayang mga pilipino gained the most traction among the 10 posts flagged by VERA Files carrying the fake quote card. It had more than 700 reactions, over 130 comments and nearly a hundred shares.
DeGeneres made local news last month after gifting a Filipino-American nurse, a frontliner in Los Angeles, with a car. This was featured in a Dec. 9 episode of the The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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