A week after a fabricated quote belittling Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s recent boxing win was attributed to her, Vice President Leni Robredo was again made the subject of another fake quote card.
This time it’s a nonsensical statement about the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
At least two Facebook (FB) pages — Fighters Against Biased Media and Tayo Ang Bukas Spyder friends — posted on July 28 and 29, respectively, a 2016 Esquire photo of Robredo. It was photoshopped with the statement,
“I believed yung ginawa ni Duterte na pagpapatigil sa PCSO , ay ang pagpapahinto nito kung ganoon nga yung order nya ay isarado na kaya dapat i-close (I believed Duterte’s decision to stop PCSO operations, stopping this if so his order is to close so it’s necessary that they be closed).”
It is the same photo of Robredo that was used for a July 22 quote card that claimed she told Pacquiao to “have a heart for the poor.” VERA Files Fact Check found that post to be untrue. (See: VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Robredo DID NOT belittle Pacquiao’s recent boxing win)
This statement about the PCSO is also a hoax.
There are no news reports nor official transcripts quoting Robredo making such a statement. Neither are there any reports or statements from her official social media channels that refer to PCSO.
On her personal FB account, the vice president screengrabbed Tayo Ang Bukas Spyder friends’ version of the fake post and said, “May bagong bukas na fake news site (There’s a newly opened fake news site).”
The fake online post surfaced a couple of days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered on July 26 the closure of PCSO-licensed gaming outlets, including the popular lotto, following reports of corruption within the organization. The president, however, withdrew his order four days later.
Fighters Against Biased Media’s fake post could have reached over 384,000 people while Tayo Ang Bukas Spyder friends’ version could have reached over 541,000 netizens. Traffic to the stories largely came from the pages Fighters Against Biased Media, Favradio Global and Bayang Pilipinas, for the former; and Tayo Ang Bukas Spyder friends, WE SUPPORT PDU30 ADMINISTRATION and WE SUPPORT BONGBONG MARCOS, and BongBong Marcos United for the latter.
Fighters Against Biased Media was created on Aug. 3, 2018. Tayo Ang Bukas Spyder friends was created on Oct. 7, 2014.
