A Facebook (FB) page and two FB groups revived and shared a fake 2018 quote card of President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly addressing critics who have vilified him. The posts have generated thousands of engagement.
The page SWORD tv Philippines Broadcasting resurrected on May 1 a fabricated graphic that quoted Duterte as saying: “SIRAAN MAN AKO NG KUNG SINO-SINO MANANATILI PA RIN SILANG SINUNGALING SA MATA NG TAONG NAKAKAKILALA SA AKIN NG TOTOO (Even if people slander me, they will remain liars in the eyes of the people who truly know me).” This was shared on FB groups JAIL TRILLANES & NOYNOY NOW on May 2 and SARA DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT on May 3. All three posts got a total of nearly 4,000 FB interactions.
The quote is fake. There are no existing transcripts of any Duterte interviews or news reports on record that prove Duterte actually said this.
A cursory search on Google shows the fake quote card was first posted by FB page Republic Defenders on Feb. 14, 2018. It used an Aug. 21, 2017 photo of Duterte during an interview with the Malacañang Press Corps.
According to social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle, the fabricated graphic was re-shared on pro-Duterte FB pages, triggering interactions that peaked on certain periods, namely, in February 2018, October 2018, December 2019, January 2020, and May 2021.
The fake quote card emerged after workers slammed Duterte on Labor Day, May 1, for the government’s “irresponsible” response to the pandemic.
SWORD TV Philippines Broadcasting, which disseminates information about federalism, was created in November 2018. It lists its page as Broadcasting and media production company with 107,821 followers. FB group JAIL TRILLANES & NOYNOY NOW, created in October 2016, is listed as public and has over 47,500 members, while SARA DUTERTE FOR PRESIDENT, also listed as a public group, was created in April 2020 and has over 46,200 members.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
