A fake report about the death of celebrity Kris Aquino garnered over 452,000 views as Filipinos welcomed the new year.
Posted Jan. 1 on YouTube and Facebook, the video carried this erroneous headline:
“Pumanaw Na! Kris Aquino Natalo Na Sa Karera Sa Buhay! Biglaang Paglisan Nito Nakakaiyak! Grabe!
(Passed away! Kris Aquino lost in the race of life! Her sudden death moves us to tears! Terrible!)”
The video’s narrator claimed Aquino passed away after singer Jovit Baldivino died on Dec. 9. It urged people to keep watching without providing evidence for the claim.
Aquino is alive. Batangas vice governor Mark Leviste posted photos with the media personality and her sons on Instagram on Jan. 3, and said he spent New Year’s Day with them in California.
Aquino also posted an Instagram update on Dec. 24, updating her followers that she applied for an extended medical stay in the U.S. to treat her four autoimmune illnesses.
To make the death hoax more convincing, the following images were used out of context:
- A Feb. 14, 2020 photo of a funeral wreath used as a surprise Valentine’s day gift; and
- Two screenshots from a Feb. 7, 2020 video of Aquino’s acupuncture session.
The fake video posted by YouTube channel Shelina Ong (created on March 6, 2018) and re-uploaded by Facebook (FB) page Yuna (created on April 23, 2021 under the FB name Takes) got 4,200 reactions, 1,600 comments, and 416,000 views combined.
Some netizens in the comment section asked if Aquino indeed died, while most people called out the page and the vlogger for posting “fake news.”
VERA Files Fact Check debunked four death hoaxes targeting Aquino last year.
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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.)
