Archive - FACT CHECK

In pushing for legislation against the spread of false information online, Sen. Robinhood Padilla enumerated 15 countries that have laws against “fake news.” His list, however, carries some inaccuracies.

In a span of four years, Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa went from supporting the death penalty for all illegal drug offenders as director-general of the Bureau of Corrections to proposing rehabilitation for users. Now, the former Philippine National Police chief says he has “second thoughts” about his own measure.

The P25 per kilo rice is available only in Kadiwa ng Pasko caravan stores which operate in limited areas at designated dates and time in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao de Oro.

A bogus link redirecting to an allegedly revived version of the now-defunct social networking site Friendster is making the rounds on social media.

A Facebook page impersonating celebrity-vlogger Cheska Garcia-Kramer used altered photos of her family to advertise a product called Japan Pasteur Institute Mouth Spray. 

A couple of Facebook pages are yet again repeating the false claim that suspended BuCor Director General Gerald Bantag has been reinstated.

A Facebook page claimed in a graphic that the City of Pearl infrastructure project is part of the flagship infrastructure programs of former president Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent President Bongbong Marcos. Not true. It is a public-private partnership project entered into by the City of Manila in 2017.

A video claims President Bongbong Marcos was astonished by US President Joe Biden’s shocking decision to “arm” the country with nuclear power. This is misleading, the talks with the U.S. referred to a possible deal on nuclear energy, not weapons.

A 2015 Commission on Audit (COA) set of guidelines defines confidential expenses as lump sum amounts for “surveillance activities in civilian government agencies.” It categorically states that “in no case shall (confidential or intelligence funds) be used for … construction or acquisition of buildings or housing structures.”

Facebook pages are sharing a video that claims Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was removed by Pope Francis from Caritas Internationalis for misusing church money. This is not true.

What are confidential and intelligence funds? For what can these be used?

A YouTube video featured a deep-water platform and falsely claimed it to be a mega project between Japan and the Philippines. Not true.