A YouTube video falsely claimed that Manila City Mayor and presidential candidate Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso issued an order preventing his constituents from joining the caravan of fellow presidential aspirant and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“Walang utos (There was no order) during the motorcade of presidential candidate Marcos Jr. to prevent others from going out,” Princess Abante, councilor of Manila’s 6th District, told VERA Files Fact Check via phone call.
“[For] barangay matters, hindi si Yorme ang nagme-memo (the mayor doesn’t send out memos.) Usually the memo will come from the Manila Barangay Bureau (MBB),” Abante, one of three spokespersons of Domagoso’s political campaign, added.
An officer of the MBB told VERA Files Fact Check via phone call that the bureau issued no such memorandum either.
The video further asserted that the city of Manila is saddled with debt because Domagoso took out a P15 billion loan, and his constituents have no idea how the city spent the funds. This claim needs context.
A total of P25 billion in loans was granted to the City of Manila to finance infrastructure projects: a P10 billion loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines signed on Nov. 19, 2019, a P5 billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) signed on Jan. 30, 2020, and another P10 billion loan from the DBP signed on May 21, 2021.
These loans have been used to construct housing projects for the poor like the Tondominum 1, rehabilitate the Manila Zoo, fund the establishment of the Bagong Ospital ng Maynila, and build new school buildings such as the Manila Science High School.
Contrary to the video’s claim, Domagoso regularly updates how the loans are utilized by posting related videos on his official social media account.
The misleading video, posted by YouTube channel PINAS INSIDER (created on Sept. 6, 2016), garnered 122,000 views. It appeared a day after the motorcade of Marcos Jr. in Manila was cut short on Feb. 20 due to a security concern.
Facebook pages Bong bong Marcos tayo sa 2022 (created on Oct .24, 2021), Pinoy Beat Update (created on June 22, 2020) and B0ngb0ng Marc0s BBM (created on Oct. 21, 2021) re-uploaded the video, garnering a total of almost 38,000 interactions.
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