A viral Facebook (FB) video falsely claims President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has expressed support for actor and television host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro who is embroiled in a rape case.
Posted on Sept. 30, the three-minute video carried the caption: “Nagsanib Pwersa na! Raffy Tulfo, Willie Revillame at Bongbong Marcos Tutulungan si Vhong Navarro ([They] have joined forces! Raffy Tulfo, Willie Revillame and Bongbong Marcos to help Vhong Navarro).”
A video voice-over claimed that the three will work together to help Navarro in the cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness filed against him by Deniece Cornejo and Cedric Lee’s camp led by their lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
At the 1:00 minute mark, the video claims that the Marcos administration has vowed to help the case achieve a fair trial.
The narration said: “Kaniyang pagbabahagi na gagawa ang kaniyang pamahalaan ng paraan para maging pantay ang kalalabasan ng kaso at hindi magkaroon ng anumang klase ng lamangan sa pagitan ng dalawang kampo ([Marcos] shared that his administration will make a way for the case to achieve fair results and avoid any impartiality between the two camps).”
The video also claimed that the entire Marcos family supports Navarro as the president allegedly was able to monitor the case since 2014.
These claims are false. There are no reports of Marcos personally expressing support for Navarro or his administration vowing to intervene in the actor’s rape case.
There is also no basis for the claim that Marcos is teaming up with Sen. Tulfo and Revillame to help the actor.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo has not released any official statement regarding the case despite many netizens asking for his program Raffy Tulfo in Action to provide the actor assistance.
Revillame has not released any official statement regarding the alleged support for Navarro either, although entertainment columnist Cristy Fermin has said the TV host is ready to help, like he did in 2014.
Navarro is facing a criminal case filed on Aug. 9 by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) after the Court of Appeals granted Cornejo’s petition to file a rape case against the actor, reversing the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) earlier junking of Cornejo’s complaints.
On Sept. 20, Navarro surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after the Taguig RTC issued an arrest warrant.
The FB video was uploaded the same day the Taguig RTC denied Navarro’s motion to remain under the NBI’s custody. Cornejo has asked a court to transfer Navarro from the NBI to the Taguig City Jail.
The video shared by the FB page Smith TV (created on Feb. 3, 2020) now has 3.2 million views, 137,000 reactions, 105 comments and 4,000 shares. It was also reposted on the YouTube account Smith Channel garnering 31,000 views. The false claim has also reached social media sites Twitter and TikTok.
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