YouTube channel Showbiz Fanaticz has posted a video claiming that Queen Elizabeth II and a British blogger expressed admiration for President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. The is false.
The July 6 video’s erroneous title read: “BREAKING: Matapos ang PANINIRA ni PACQUIAO| QUEEN ELIZABETH II BILIB PARIN kay PRESIDENT DUTERTE (Breaking: After criticism from Pacquiao| Queen Elizabeth II is still impressed with President Duterte)!”
The latest statement from Queen Elizabeth II lauding Filipino nurses in Britain did not carry any praise for Duterte. Neither did a video from British blogger Malcolm Conlan.
Many posts by Showbiz Fanaticz have been flagged as disinformation. The last that VERA Files fact-checked was its June 16 video that falsely claimed that Fatou Bensouda, former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), will be sent to prison for a “false accusation” against Duterte.
In its introduction, the July 6 video’s voice-over claimed that the queen expressed support for Duterte’s “good governance,” the administration’s progress and projects.
None of these sentiments were found in the queen’s special message, posted July 4, commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the U.K. and Philippines.
The video narrator also claimed that Conlan admired the Duterte administration for ignoring criticisms from Sen. Manny Pacquiao, further saying that several Filipinos do not believe Pacquiao’s allegations against Duterte.
Conlan did not make any of these statements. In his July 4 video about the queen’s special message, he said it was a “historic moment” for U.K. royalty to pay tribute to Filipino nurses who serve in the U.K.’s National Health Service. He did not mention Pacquiao even once.
The British national, who is also an ambassador of goodwill for the Philippine Nurses Association, claimed that Queen Elizabeth II sent her best wishes to Duterte. But in her message, the queen specifically conveyed to Duterte her “best wishes to the people of the Philippines.” Conlan is founder of a Filipino community website Fil-Event.com.
The false video garnered nearly 198,000 views on YouTube. It emerged three days after Sen. Pacquiao held a press conference on July 3, revealing corruption in different government agencies involving billions of pesos.
A version of the Showbiz Fanaticz video was posted on the website NEWS GLOBAL PH, (newsglobalph.blogspot.com) which got nearly 7,400 total interactions on FB. It could have reached 1.4 million people, according to FB-owned public insights tool CrowdTangle.
Showbiz Fanaticz was created in November 2017.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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