An old image of a rally in a neighboring Southeast Asian country is being passed off as a new photo supposedly showing droves of supporters of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
The false Nov. 7 Facebook (FB) post featured two copies of the same image, showing a street filled with people wearing red and a line of vehicles passing through.
Text bearing out the word “BBM 2022” was placed above the photo, and the publisher, pro-Marcos page United Cordillerans Supporting BBM, wrote as its caption: “Happy Red Day! Lets Support Bongbong Marcos. Sama Sama Tayong Babangon Muli (Together, we will rise again).”
The image does not show supporters of the late dictator’s son. It was of a Sept. 19, 2010 rally called the Red Shirt protest in Bangkok organized by supporters of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in 2006. It was uploaded on Wikimedia Commons by a user named “Takeaway.”
The false post circulated the same day Marcos supporters held a motorcade in Ilocos Sur province. A few days earlier, a petition to cancel the former senator’s certificate of candidacy was filed at the Commission on Elections, raising his conviction in tax evasion cases as the basis.
The post gained over 9,500 reactions and 2,500 shares. The page that published it was created on March 21, 2015.
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