Online posts claiming activist nun Sr. Mary John Mananzan said “sinless” Vice President Leni Robredo should replace President Rodrigo Duterte, and that Otso Diretso’s loss in the recent polls has “endangered the whole world,” are a hoax.
At least two netizens — one, a member of the Facebook group RODY DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL, and the other, from a Facebook page called Raffy Tulfo Supporters — posted a 2014 Wikimedia file photo of Mananzan on May 24 and 26.
It was superimposed with the statement:
“Dahil sa pagkatalo ng Ocho Derecho ay nanganganib na magunaw ang buong Mundo, Mababawi lamang natin ang Sumpa kung ibabagsak natin ang rehimen Duterte at iupo natin bilang bagong banal na pangulo si Leni Robredo ang babaeng hindi nagkasala at ang taga tubos ng sanglibutan (Because of Ocho Derecho’s loss, the world is at risk of collapse. We can only reverse the curse if we bring down the Duterte regime and put at the seat the new, holy president Leni Robredo, the woman without sin and the savior of the world).”
There is no official record of Mananzan making such a statement. But the two fake posts have been shared over 800 times, have received more than 990 reactions and over a thousand comments.
The fake quote attributed to the Catholic nun surfaced around the time netizens also circulated on social media an actual statement Mananzan made about the recent polls during a protest last May 17, where she was heard “calling for People Power”. She said she wanted to bring back the “People Power magic,” referring to the peaceful demonstrations that led to end of the Marcos dictatorship.
RODY DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL was created in August 2016; Raffy Tulfo Supporters was created in August 2018.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
