DU30, a Facebook (FB) page with a history of sharing disinformation, uploaded a video on Feb. 15 that makes two misleading claims. In its thumbnail, it made it appear broadcaster Raffy Tulfo is running for the Senate in the 2022 elections, while its headline states he will run in a tandem with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The radio and TV personality has made no announcement he would vie for public office. Neither has the presidential daughter said she was running in the upcoming polls.
The circulating video carried a thumbnail featuring the faces of the two personalities and President Rodrigo Duterte, and the text:
“SA WAKAS PINAKAHIHINTAY NG LAHAT | RAFFY TULFO SA SENADO (At last, the moment everyone’s waiting for | Raffy Tulfo for Senate).”
In a Jan. 4 episode of his program Idol in Action, Tulfo thanked his supporters after news broke that he placed second to third place in a PulseAsia survey last year for senatorial bets. He then clarified that he was not interested in politics.
The headline of DU30’s misleading video also wrongly claimed Duterte-Carpio and Tulfo will run as political partners in the 2022 elections. This was echoed in a news ticker inside the clip.
The claim is unsubstantiated. Last month, Duterte-Carpio told Reuters she was not eyeing the presidency. After her supporters staged campaigns to convince her to run, she said she may do it in 2034, not in 2022. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Sara Duterte DID NOT announce candidacy for 2022 polls)
To look like a news report, the misleading 12-minute video stitched together several clips from the following:
- an Aug. 9, 2016 Radio Television Malacanang video of Duterte visiting wounded soldiers in Cagayan de Oro, overlaid with a different audio clip;
- a Dec. 31, 2020 News5 report about the PulseAsia survey;
- a Feb. 14 News5 FB Live video of a motorcade of Duterte-Carpio supporters, and
- an April 2, 2019 speech of President Duterte.
DU30’s deceptive video has gotten more than 6,000 reactions, 600 comments, and 900 shares, and could have reached 271,000 people, according to social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.
The misleading video was originally posted by YouTube channel DDS NEWSINFO, which now has over 122,000 views. It was also embedded in a post by website tech1987.com that may have reached more than 181,000 people.
DU30 was created in May 2020, DDS NEWSINFO in December 2012, and tech1987.com in December 2019.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
