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FACT CHECK

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Online post claiming Hontiveros assured rallyists ‘will be paid’ FAKE

A photo circulating on Facebook which claims Sen. Risa Hontiveros assured alleged for-hire anti-martial law protesters they will be compensated is fabricated.

The photo, posted the morning of Sept. 21, carried a screenshot of a news report by SMNI News Channel on Hontiveros during a rally while answering questions from the media. It had this superimposed caption:

“Ma’am, confirm lang po namin: Kapag umulan po sa Sept. 21, tuloy pa rin ba ang bayad sa amin (Ma’am, just to confirm, we’ll still get paid even if it rains on Sept. 21)?”

To which the senator supposedly replied,

“Oo, basta wag lang tatakas ang mga organizers (Yes, as long as the organizers don’t run off).”

The post is fake.

The photo was actually taken from an SMNI report on the 31st anniversary of the EDSA People Power on Feb. 25, 2017.

The question did not materialize in the entire duration of the interview. Neither did Hontiveros make such claim.

In the interview, she was asked to comment on President Rodrigo Duterte’s absence in the event, as well as the Feb. 24 arrest of her fellow senator, Leila De Lima, on drug charges.

The false post was uploaded a day after Hontiveros called Duterte a “destabilizer-in-chief”. It has since garnered 944 interactions and over 10,000 shares on Facebook.

The country marked the 46th anniversary of the delcaration of martial law last Sept 21 with protest rallies in the capital.

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