A fake quote card claimed that Sen. Robinhood Padilla said he would legislate a law allowing every Filipino man to have five wives.
Posted on May 14 by a Facebook (FB) page, the made-up quote card attributed to Padilla read: “Isasabatas ko na po na Ang bawat lalake (sic), Lima ang mapapangasawa (I will create a law to allow every man to marry five women).”
No official statements, news reports, or posts from Padilla’s official FB and Instagram accounts quoted the senator saying this.
Netizens first shared the fabricated quote card on May 10, as Padilla led the senatorial race during the national elections.
Padilla has filed bills on divorce and same-sex unions but not any measure on polygamy for the general public.
Sec. 3, Art. 27 of Presidential Decree No. 1983 of 1977, a code of Filipino Muslim laws, states that a Muslim man can have more than one wife but not more than four wives as long as he can provide equal companionship and just treatment to all.
The fabricated graphic posted by FB page So kaylan moko e crucrush back (created on April 16) garnered over 16,166 interactions. FB page Alex go motovlog and four other netizens also shared the fake quote card, collectively receiving 892 interactions.
It re-emerged on Oct. 20, after the senator made the headlines as he proposed that week to impose tariffs on foreign movies and TV series and use the collection to subsidize the local film industry.
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