A digitally-altered photo of Vice President Leni Robredo and running mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan while inside a church, so it looked like a wedding cord bound them while kneeling, is fake.
The edited photo, which carried text that read “MABUHAY ANG BAGONG KASAL (Long-live the newly-weds),” shows a rope loosely placed over the two opposition figures. A noose was digitally added to make it look like Pangilinan was holding it.
This is a manipulation of a photo posted on March 11 on Inquirer.net’s Twitter and Facebook (FB) accounts. There were no ropes in the original. Inquirer.net’s caption states that the photo was taken during the political tandem’s campaign event that day at Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
The location indicated in the picture was St. Joseph Parish. Photos and videos of Robredo and Pangilinan’s visit were posted on the church’s FB page.
Robredo, a widow, was married to the late Interior secretary Jesse Robredo, who died in a plane crash in 2012. Pangilinan is the husband of actress Sharon Cuneta.
FB pages Bong-Bong Marcos News (created on Sept. 29, 2021), BBM Supporters (Sept. 28, 2021), Bangon Bayan Muli (Jan. 7, 2022), and six-day-old Silent Majority, posted the fake photo from March 12 to 14, garnering a total of over 6,800 interactions as of March 15. Twenty-three other FB users reposted the same image, garnering an additional 664 interactions.
The altered graphic surfaced on social media shortly after the Robredo-Pangilinan rally in Bacolod, which had an estimated 70,000 attendees according to campaign organizers and news reports.
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