Website trdnews.top published May 5 a story bearing a misleading and clickbait-y headline claiming it’s “shocking” that Vice President Leni Robredo will succeed President Rodrigo Duterte’s post.
The story, which could have reached more than 2.5 million people, generated mostly angry responses on social media.
Its headline, “NAKAKAGULAT!:PWESTO NI PRRD MAKUKUHA NI LENI PANOORIN! (Shocking! Leni will get PRRD’s post! Watch!),” only states the obvious: the vice president under the 1987 Constitution takes over the presidency in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office or resignation of the president.
The story was published three days after Duterte delivered a speech addressing farmers in Quezon, where he mentioned Robredo only very briefly, calling her “okay” and then saying he does “not intend to leave.”
The story carried a video uploaded by Youtube channel Tokhang TV, a blurry and cropped 13-minute clip of Duterte’s 59-minute speech in Quezon, .
Trdnews.top has been publishing stories since December 2017, while Tokhang TV was created November 2016.
The story’s biggest traffic generators on social media are BongBong Marcos United, President Rody Duterte -Federal Movement International and We Support Duterte Administration.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
