A Facebook (FB) page posted a now-viral video claiming Kris Aquino has died and that her remains were on their way back to the Philippines. It is a hoax.
Posted on Nov. 22, the three-minute and 30-second video carried the headline:
“BREAKING NEWS! BANGKAY NI KRIS AQUINO PABALIK NA SA BANSA | Kris Aquino Pumanaw Na (Kris Aquino’s corpse headed back to the country | Kris Aquino has passed away)!”
The video itself only presented speculations that the TV host has died. It contained a slideshow of Aquino’s images receiving medical treatments sourced from her Instagram account.
Reverse image searches also showed that two of the photos used, showing patients wrapped in white blankets, were not of Aquino. They were from 2013 and 2021 at two hospitals in Houston, Texas.
About halfway through the fake video, a narrator reiterated the claim about Aquino’s body returning to the country and admitted that it is not proven.
The narrator said:
“[K]amakailan lang ay may nagsasabing pabalik na dalhin sa pilipinas ang katawan ni Kris Aquino nang dahil nga’y wala na ito at pumanaw na. Kaya usap-usapan ang pangyayari ito kung gaano ito katotoo at kung may katuturan man.”
(Recently some say Kris Aquino’s body is being brought back to the Philippines because she has gone and passed away. That’s why it is being talked about how true this is.)
This is fake. There are no news reports about Aquino passing away and that her remains are returning to the Philippines.
On Nov. 24, Aquino posted a photo of her sons on Instagram and said she is currently signed up in a hospital’s center for patients with rare and undiagnosed illnesses. The actress added that they will be extending their stay in the United States and thanked the people praying for her recovery.
The posts came out more than two weeks after Aquino’s friend, journalist Dindo Balares, in an FB post, confirmed that Aquino left Texas and moved to Los Angeles to receive medical treatment. Balares said she is “as sharp, concern, and loving as ever.”
Aquino has been diagnosed with a number of autoimmune conditions and had issued updates on her social media accounts until last June, when she started to keep a low profile.
This is the fourth time this 2022 that VERA Files Fact Check has debunked disinformation about Aquino’s condition. (Read FB post MISLEADS netizens on Kris Aquino’s health condition)
Several netizens fell for the circulating video and offered condolences, while others called out the page for posting “fake news.”
The hoax by the FB page Rafy Tulfo Love idol (created on Aug. 27, 2021) garnered 11,000 reactions, 7,400 comments, 2,100 shares and 1,700,000 views. YouTube channel PH NEWS NGAYON (Oct. 21, 2019) also posted the video garnering 14,308 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.)