A post on X (formerly Twitter) about the supposed dishonorable discharge of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been reshared on Facebook (FB). This is a satire.
The post claimed that an AFP spokesperson said this: “We cannot tolerate anyone in our ranks who pays New Year’s greetings to the enemy and does not otherwise make her position clear, also the Vice President.”
A reader on FB asked VERA Files Fact Check to verify the claim.
The X account behind the satirical post – @DuterteWatchDog – clarified: “This account contains satirical content. If you think you have taken too high a dose, please seek professional help immediately.”
As defined in FB’s fact check ratings guide, satirical content refers to “content that uses irony, exaggeration, or absurdity for criticism or awareness, particularly in the context of political, religious, or social issues,” but which “a reasonable user would not immediately understand to be satirical.”
VERA Files Fact Check fact-checked another tweet in 2021 from the same satirical X account which describes itself as someone that “(pours) ridicule in large amounts.”
The satirical post’s claim refers to Duterte-Carpio’s greeting in 2022 during the 73rd founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, where she spoke in Mandarin.
@DuterteWatchdog’s post garnered 649,670 interactions on X, while reposts from two FB netizens garnered a total of 269 interactions.
These posts appeared four days after the vice-president said “no comment” when asked about the Chinese harassment of Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea.
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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.)