A YouTube channel has been erroneously using old, foreign photos of infrastructure equipment, claiming they are gifts that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has received from Singapore, Japan, and the United States (U.S.).
Three misleading videos published between Sept. 14 and 25 used these images as thumbnails.
But not one video or photo showed any equipment actually being given to the Philippines. VERA Files Fact Check traced each photo via reverse image search and found that they were years old and manipulated to some extent.
Photo 1: Singapore
The image actually shows a tunneling machine of the Department of Transportation of Washington state in the U.S., taken on Dec. 15, 2015 in Seattle.
Among the edits made was to make it appear Marcos was standing in front of the machine and the digital insertion of a Philippine flag to the equipment.
When clicked, the video only talked about Singapore’s investment pledges to the country, and its drainage system.
Photo 2: Japan
The second video shows a vehicle, a manipulated version of an enormous truck in China called WTW 220E, with more wheels to make it look wider and four Philippine flags flying on each corner.
The video only discussed Japan’s commitment to help the Philippines on economic development.
Photo 3: U.S.
The thumbnail used an altered image of dump trucks which bore Philippine flags. The original was a thumbnail of a YouTube video dated Dec. 19, 2021, and appears as if taken in China.
The trucks bore banners, which, when translated from Mandarin, read “China Hydropower Fifth Bureau.”
The video mainly tackled only Marcos’ visit to the U.S.
The misleading videos came out after Marcos’ state visit to Singapore. The president also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The three misleading videos by the YouTube channel ASK TEACHER POPONG (created on Dec. 29, 2018) have collectively garnered 738,810 views. At least one has also been reuploaded on Facebook, getting over 25,000 reactions.
VERA Files Fact Check previously flagged the channel for a similar deceptive video. (READ: Mining Equipment ‘Pasalubong’ from Bongbong Marcos on TikTok FAKE)
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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.)
