A year-old post of a Facebook (FB) user that featured fake graphics showing international celebrities Henry Cavill and Jimmy Fallon and a fictional Korean drama character “praising” President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership has been revived by netizens.
None of the three personalities made such a statement.
One of the fabricated graphics showed Cavill, who played Superman in several DC superhero films, saying: “I may be Superman but the Philippine president is a Super President! Our country can learn a lot from him.”
Cavill did not say this, and a cursory search does not show the British actor making any statement in reference to the Philippine chief executive.
Meanwhile, American talk show host Fallon was quoted saying: “The way President Duterte is responding to this current crisis is commendable. He really is one of the best world leaders.” There is no record of him making this praise, based on a keyword search.
Even Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok, a fictional character played by Korean actor Hyun Bin in the hit Korean drama Crash Landing on You, did not escape the hands of disinformation producers. But neither Captain Ri nor Hyun said he “admires” Duterte, contrary to the post’s concocted claim.
While many of the responses to the FB user’s fake graphics were made in jest, some called it out as disinformation.
One user wrote, “It may be a fake post. Please check if credible.” Another said: “Check if it’s legitimate or not, just by looking at it seems fishy, it’s edited or fake.”
But another netizen, in reference to Cavill’s graphic said, “if these people really have said these wonderful words and not just a composition of some random devotee, then I, too, feel the most pride for my country.. given we have a super-president like Duterte.”
The untrue post circulated a year after the government first implemented a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. On March 26, the country recorded an all-time high of infections reported in a single day — at 9,838 — heightening public criticism of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bogus post now has over 62,000 shares, 13,000 reactions and 1,500 comments.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
