VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Kuya Kim DID NOT say Bong Go’s wife is supplier of face shields

Facebook (FB) page Expose Philippines published information on June 6 spuriously made to look like it came from television host and broadcaster Kim Atienza, popularly known as Kuya Kim.

Showing a photo of Atienza, the FB page’s graphic carried text stating that only the Philippines requires the use of face shields amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the wife of Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go is the supplier of the plastic product from China.

Kuya Kim did not say this. He called the post “fake news” in an FB post the same day and declared: “I never said this nor created this meme.”

To make it look like the information came from the television host, the text in Expose Philippines’ fake post began with the phrase: “Kaunting Kaalaman” — Atienza’s segment on ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol where he gives an interesting fact each day.

The claim alleging that Go’s wife is the supplier of face shields locally has circulated in social media in the past, but it remains unsubstantiated.

The graphic also cited the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying that face shields are “not effective” against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This is the WHO’s advice on the use of face shields to the general public, as of Dec. 1, 2020: “At present, face shields are considered to provide a level of eye protection only and should not be considered as an equivalent to masks with respect to respiratory droplet protection and/or source control.”

Expose Philippines’ fake post was published shortly after the Health and Interior departments maintained that while the country is still in a pandemic, the use face shields in public will continue. This followed Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso’s calls to prove the science behind it.

The post has over 1,700 shares, 4,400 reactions and 380 comments. The FB page was created on July 21, 2019.

(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)