VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Mar Roxas DID NOT announce his candidacy for 2022 polls

An old video of former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II has been revived by a YouTube channel and published with the title: “Mar Roxas Tatakbo sa 2022 (Mar Roxas will run in 2022)| Philippines News 2020|Oyod Official TV.”

This is false.

The misleading four-and-a-half-minute-long clip, which has over 75,000 views, is a tampered version of a video uploaded on Roxas’ official Facebook (FB) page on Oct. 15, 2018, when he announced his decision to run in the 2019 midterm polls.

Roxas has made no public announcement that he would run for office in 2022 in any of his social media channels or in news reports.

The uploader—YouTube channel Oyod Official TV—swiped Roxas’ video and edited it using Kinemaster, a free video editing tool. The finished product bore a Kinemaster watermark and carried text commentary negating Roxas’ remarks.

The post also carried a deceptive thumbnail: a cropped version of The Philippine Star’s photo of Roxas filing his certificate of candidacy in October 2018. The altered photo had the concocted text “Tatakbo ako sa 2022 (I will run in 2022)” and “I don’t quite (sic) On our country” pasted onto the document he was holding up.

The fake post was uploaded last April 13 but gained traction again this August, potentially reaching more than 2.4 million people. This came shortly after Vice President Leni Robredo, Roxas’ running mate in the 2016 polls, reacted to calls for a revolutionary government on Aug. 23. In a separate account, election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said if President Rodrigo Duterte heeds the call and declares a “RevGov,” Robredo will become the new chief executive.

Public FB groups Mayor Inday Sara Duterte International Movement, ISUMBONG MO KAY TATAY DIGONG, and Isko Moreno Supporters Group generated the most traffic to the post this month, with their comments sections showing netizens cursing Roxas and saying he was campaigning too early.

Oyod Official TV was created on Feb. 13, 2016. It posts a hodgepodge of content ranging from politics-themed videos, eating vlogs to health tips.

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