An eight-minute video posted on Aug. 2 falsely claimed in its thumbnail that former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he will run for president in 2022.
Marcos has not announced his candidacy for the country’s top post.
“I will keep my options open until I have to make a decision, which is filing,” he said during a July 27 interview with DZRH radio host Deo Macalma, a portion of which was used as the video’s content.
The filing of candidacies for all elective positions will run from Oct. 1 to 8. In a press briefing on Aug. 4, Marcos said he will run for president if he has “solid support.”
YouTube channel BANAT NEWS TV, which published the falsehood, spuriously used as its thumbnail a photo of Marcos made to look like he was holding a certificate of candidacy for president. It also bore the words, “CONFIRMED! President 2022”.
But it was originally a photo taken by photojournalist Edd Gumban as Marcos filed a comment at the Supreme Court in May 2019 related to his 2016 electoral protest.
The video’s headline also wrongly insinuated that Marcos will officially campaign alongside Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. It read: “JUST IN : FINALLY! CONFIRMED! BONGBONG MARCOS at MAYOR SARA NAGSALITA na! TATAKBO nasa 2022 SAWAKAS (Bongbong Marcos and Mayor Sara have spoken! They will run in 2022, finally)!”
Marcos on July 27 said he has asked Duterte-Carpio of her plans for 2022 but the presidential daughter had not yet made a decision.
This is not the first time VERA Files Fact Check has flagged a claim purporting a Marcos-Duterte tandem. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: NO announcement of a Bongbong-Sara tandem in 2022 polls and VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Video claiming Bongbong-Sara tandem for 2022 confirmed NOT TRUE)
The untrue YouTube video was viewed over 275,000 times. It could have reached 161,142 Facebook users, according to social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle. Its top traffic FB generators are the public groups Ferdinand BongBong Marcos Jr. For President Movement 2022, Bongbong Marcos for President 2022 and DR JAC & GEN PARLADE MOVEMENT FOR PEACE & DEVELOPMENT.
The YouTube channel, flagged 13 times already by VERA Files Fact Check for publishing disinformation, was created in December 2015.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)