Misinformation spreads

about media coverage of

Marcos heir's campaign
rally
AFP Philippines
Thu, March 24, 2022, 1:17 PM

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube alongside

a claim it shows a campaign rally for Philippine presidential election
favourite Ferdinand Marcos Jr in March that was "not covered by the
media". The post circulated online as the volunteer-driven campaign of
Marcos Jr's main rival Leni Robredo appeared to be gathering momentum.
But the claim is false: multiple Philippine media organisations published
corresponding videos of the campaign rally. AFP has previously debunked
posts that falsely accused the Philippine media of not covering Marcos Jr's
public appearances or his campaign.

The 13-minute video was published on YouTube on March 16

on a channel called Showbiz Fanaticz.
The channel has a history of sharing election-related
misinformation, which AFP has debunked here and here.
The video has been viewed more than 23,000 times.
The post claims the footage shows clips of a Marcos Jr
motorcade in Nueva Ecija province north of the capital that
attracted a throng of his supporters despite a heavy downpour.
The video's Tagalog-language caption translates to English in
part as: "This is what the media is not showing: Despite rain,
people from Nueva Ecija did not leave Macos [sic]."
A voiceover can be heard saying, "Rain or shine, the show must
go on. This is what online users are saying after witnessing the
grand caravan of the BBM-Sara tandem in Nueva Ecija.
"Though people got drenched because of the rain, they did not
leave presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos behind."
"BBM" and "Bongbong" are nicknames for Marcos Jr, son, and
namesake of the country's former dictator.
Marcos Jr has teamed up with Sara Duterte -- daughter of
outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte -- under a ticket called
"UniTeam".
The video circulated online as the volunteer-driven campaign
for Marcos Jr's main rival for the top job -- Philippine Vice
President Leni Robredo -- appeared to be gathering
momentum.
Crowd sizes have swelled at Robredo's recent rallies, including
on March 20, when more than 130,000 of her supporters
flocked to an event in the suburbs of Manila, AFP reported here.
The YouTube video also was shared in
blogs here and here alongside a similar claim.
Comments on the posts suggested they misled social media
users.
"This is why I only believe in video bloggers and not the media,"
one user wrote.
"Stop hoping [media] would report on this, most of them require
bribes first," another commented.
In reality, multiple local media organisations reported on Marcos
Jr's supporters flocking to see his motorcade in Nueva Ecija.