A Facebook (FB) page used a fake graphic to falsely claim that Kabataan Party-List Rep. Raoul Manuel expressed support for a mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
Posted on Aug. 25 by FB page TAMA NA, the fabricated quote card that bore the logo of Kabataan Party-list had text that read: “YES TO MANDATORY ROTC! | Rep. Raoul Manuel.”
This is fake. Cursory search shows that a photo of a young man holding a placard, as well as another photo of Manuel displaying a sheet of paper with a slogan, were edited to make it look like the latter supports the proposed mandatory ROTC.
The original photo shows the demonstrator with the placard “NO TO MANDATORY ROTC”. It was first uploaded on Aug. 22 as part of Kabataan Party-list’s FB post showing students calling for increased education budget and aid for students.
The unedited version of the other photo shows Manuel with a sheet of paper on one hand with this slogan: “Ang Martial Law at mga biktima ay hindi tsismis (Martial Law and its victims are not gossip)!” On his other hand is a copy of a House bill for the reparation of Martial Law victims.
The photo was uploaded by Kabataan Party-list on its FB page on Aug 11, along with photos of other party-list members who filed House Bill 3505.
In the altered graphic’s background, the demonstrator allegedly raised a placard that read “YES TO ROTC,” while Manuel supposedly held a piece of paper with the words “I support Mandatory ROTC” written on it.
TAMA NA’s FB post with the fake graphic also bore a misleading quote in its caption allegedly uttered by Manuel.. It read:
“Kumbinsido kami na majority ng mga Pilipino ay suportado ang pagbabalik ng mandatory ROTC. Kapag tinanong ang mga Pilipino kung suportado nila ang isang programa na magsusulong ng nasyunalismo, disiplina at kahandaan sa sakuna, sino ang aayaw? Gusto ng mga kababayan natin ang mga iyan lalo na ang ROTC. Magkaisa tayong suportahan ito.”
(We are convinced that the majority of Filipinos support the return of mandatory ROTC. If you ask Filipinos if they support a program that supports nationalism, discipline, and disaster preparedness, who will say no? Our fellow citizens would like that, especially ROTC. Let’s help each other and support it.)
It’s the opposite of what the Kabataan Party-list representative actually said in an Aug. 18 statement addressing an Aug. 17 comment from Sen. Win Gatchalian about the supermajority’s reported support for mandatory ROTC:
“”Hindi rin kami kumbinsido sa laging binibida na survey na majority daw ng mga Pilipino ay suportado ang pagbabalik ng mandatory ROTC (We’re also not convinced by surveys stating that majority of Filipinos support the return of mandatory ROTC).”
Manuel’s words were also twisted. He originally said that Filipinos want nationalism, discipline and disaster preparedness but mandatory ROTC is not the answer and that the survey question was biased to get responses in favor of ROTC.
“,,,biased ang survey na iyon dahil sa tanong pa lang, slanted na: kapag tinanong ang mga Pilipino kung suportado nila ang isang programa na magsusulong diumano ng nasyunalismo, disiplina at kahandaan sa sakuna, sino ang aayaw? Gusto ng mga kababayan natin ang mga iyan pero hindi mandatory ROTC ang sagot.
(…those surveys are biased because the questions are slanted: if you ask Filipinos about their support for a program that allegedly instills nationalism, discipline, and disaster preparedness, who will say no? Our fellow citizens want that but mandatory ROTC is not the answer.)
The fake FB post appeared four days after Manuel responded to Gatchalian’s statement and has garnered a total of 243 interactions. The fabricated quote card was shared by a police station in Talisay, Camarines Norte.
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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.)
