An FB page is claiming that Sen. Manny Pacquiao has a debt of about a billion pesos but provides little detail in what looks like the latest piece of misinformation about the boxing icon.
President Duterte LIVE TODAY posted on May 16 a 10-minute video with the headline: “NAKAKA, GULAT NA BALITA ! PRES DUTERTE BINUNYAG BILYON UTANG NI PACQUIAO TRILLANES CARPIO KA-WINNIE BINULJAK! (Shocking news! Pres. Duterte revealed Pacquiao’s billion debt; Trillanes, Carpio, Ka-Winnie, thrashed).”
However, the video’s content, which is packaged with other unrelated issues, makes no mention of Duterte or his supposed disclosure about Pacquiao’s debt. But at the start, a narrator stated that the senator, who is also the president of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), owes the controversial internet personality Francis Leo Marcos a billion pesos. The allegation is based on the comments of another social media influencer. No details were given.
No media has reported about Pacquiao’s so-called debt to Duterte or Marcos. The president has made no public comments about this.
The rest of the video featured other edited clips from the May 15 episode of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo’s talk show “Counterpoint” where he singled out known Duterte critics — former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and TV host Winnie Monsod.
Panelo talked about Trillanes’ plan to run for President in the 2022 elections, Carpio’s statements on taking back China-controlled Philippine islands and Monsod’s comments on the government’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine campaign.
Pacquiao has been the target of misinformation after he made an unfavorable comment on May 3 about Duterte’s stand on the Philippines’ claim on the West Philippine Sea. He said he found the president’s response to Chinese incursions in the disputed waters “lacking”. (SEE VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte DID NOT remove Pacquiao from PDP-Laban and VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Video repeats FALSE claim that Pacquiao was ‘removed’ from PDP-Laban).
The false video was released about a week after Pacquiao made that comment, which the PDP-Laban Bulacan Chapter condemned through a resolution. Just this Monday, PDP-Laban members attended a national council assembly called by the party vice-chairman in defiance of Pacquiao’s circular to ignore the call.
The video has been viewed over 372,000 times. President Duterte LIVE TODAY, created on July 26, 2014, is followed by 25,019 FB users. Its name was initially TALK N TEXT Nation CNHS.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)