A YouTube video is claiming that former President Rodrigo Duterte has died. This is false.
On March 20, a YouTube channel published a video with the following headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG Diosk0 (sic) Hala! Grabe ang Nangyare kay Former Pres Duterte Lahat Nabigla sa Balitang to!
(Just in. Oh, my God! What happened to former President Duterte is dire! All were shocked with this news!)”
Further in the video’s thumbnail, the following text can also be read:
“DU30 PUMANAW NA. GRABE ANG GINAWA NILA KAY FPRRD (Duterte is dead. What they did to [Duterte] is too much)”
The video is a clickbait. Contrary to the video’s headline and thumbnail, the former president is alive. Even the narrator belied the video’s claim, stating that a certain social media user spread the untrue statement. Duterte was at the prayer rally organized by supporters of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy at the Liwasang Bonifacio on March 12.
The photo used in the video thumbnail to support the spurious claim showed Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio looking over a coffin draped with the Philippine flag. This was taken in February this year, during her visit to the wake of a slain soldier days after a Lanao del Norte conflict.
On March 19, Duterte-Carpio shared in a video statement that her father and President Ferdinand Marcos expressed their concern over her well-being without any mention of the former president dying.
This video emerged after ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro raised the issue of the elder Duterte being appointed as the new administrator for the assets of the controversial Kingdom of Jesus Christ, saying there is a possibility of money laundering.
YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER (created on Dec. 26, 2015) published the erroneous video, garnering over 118,000 views and 3,800 interactions.
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(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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