A nine-month old Facebook page posted a fake quote card of Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso saying some people earn payoffs from infrastructure projects amounting to almost “50 percent” of total cost.
The Patriotic Pledge, created Nov. 26, 2018, posted an infographic on Aug. 11 with Domagoso’s photo and a fabricated statement:
“Hindi porke’t maraming napagawang infrastructure project ang mayor ng lungsod ay pwede ng sabihin ninyo na matino at magaling siya. Dapat malaman nyo na kada building, kalsada, tulay at iba pa na pinapagawa ng isang local official ay may mga kumikita dyan ng kickback na halos 50 percent of the total project costs
(Not because a city mayor has made a lot of infrastructure projects doesn’t mean he is honest and competent. You must know that in every building, road, bridge, among others, constructed by a local official, there are people who gain from kickbacks reaching almost 50% of the total project costs).”
The post is fake.
A review of Domagoso’s pronouncements during that time did not show he uttered this statement.
The mayor’s photo used in the fake quote card is from a May 11 post on his official Facebook page Isko moreno Domagoso. It was taken during the Miting De Avance of Moreno’s party in Tondo, Manila.
In an email to VERA Files, Manila Public Information Office Chief Julius N. Leonen said Domagoso “never made the remarks stated in the ‘quote card’” of The Patriotic Pledge.
Further online search of the fake infographic leads to a post by RIP Manila, a 7,000-strong Facebook page that publishes content critical of the local government of Manila, specifically Domagoso. The three-month old page falsely connected Domagoso’s fake quote to a video showing road construction work – allegedly on Narciso St., in Pandacan, Manila. The page has had a history of publishing fake news.
Patriotic Pledge’s post on the Manila mayor could have reached more than 370,000 social media users. Its top traffic generators largely came from public Facebook groups DUTERTE MARCOS SUPPORTERS, Marikina News (the original) and MALABANG ProgressiveViews.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
