A pro-Marcos Facebook (FB) user is deceiving netizens with a post carrying a photo of a turban-wearing man allegedly showing his support for Vice President Leni Robredo’s bid for the presidency. The image is manipulated.
A reverse image search revealed a photo of a Sikh man at a farmer’s protest at Haryana, India on Dec. 9, 2020. The protest sign he was carrying read: “No farmer, no food” and “Shame on (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi.”
Also, the FB user’s Oct. 24 post was changed completely from its first version, based on a look at its edit history.
That day, the netizen uploaded an image of the 1975-76 freshman year class of St. Edmund’s Hall at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Among the students in the photo was former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., and the netizen claimed in its caption that the image was proof that Marcos “graduated” from the university.
Marcos did not complete his bachelor’s degree and was only conferred a special diploma.
A look at the FB post’s edit history shows it was completely changed after two days. Screenshots by VERA Files.
After gaining criticism from other FB users, the netizen replaced the class picture on Oct. 26 with the manipulated image of the Sikh farmer. It also changed its caption to read: “MGA ARABO, BUMBAY, PAKISTANI, AFGHANISTANI, KAY LENI TAYO! YAHOOOOO (Arabians, Indians, Pakistani, Afghanistans, we’re for Leni)!!! #LetLeniLeadTheBUMBAYatARABO!”
In separate FB posts, the FB user uploaded screenshots of his edited Oct. 24 post which showed that it had 10,400 Laugh reactions, and claimed that people were laughing at the “Indian or Arab” Robredo supporter.
One of his posts, translated from Filipino, read: “These people are laughing at their own candidate. They’re really stupid!”
The publisher has a profile photo and cover photo showing support for Marcos.
The fake claim emerged two days after a group of Filipino students and alumni of Oxford University issued a statement saying Marcos did not finish his bachelor’s degree at the institution, and clarified that the special diploma he received was not “comparable, superior, nor equivalent to one.” The netizen’s fake post received over 7,400 shares and 12,000 reactions.
(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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