Quote cards showing celebrities Jackie Chan, Jimmy Fallon and Henry Cavill, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and even fictional characters Meredith Grey and Capt. Ri Jeong Yheok lauding President Rodrigo Duterte’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis are all a hoax.
The quotes are fabricated.
Netizens made it seem the cards bearing the fake quotes of Chan, a famous Hong Kong martial artist and actor-director-producer, and the 36-year-old Kim, who has led North Korea since 2011, were created by legitimate news outlets Inquirer.net and CNN.
The news desks of Inquirer.net and the Philippine Daily Inquirer said they did not receive any statement from Chan who was quoted in the card as saying:
President Rodrigo Duterte has been an exemplary president. He gives great care to his people and puts the people first before others. I wish every nation's leader is just like him. What a very good president.
The quote card claimed Chan’s statement was sent March 20 to “various Filipino news outlets.” A web search showed no Philippine media outlet reporting the statement.
Kim is shown in a screenshot supposedly of a CNN newscast saying he would ask “Tatay Digong” to replace him after his term.
North Korea claims it is coronavirus-free even as neighboring South Korea has recorded 9,786 confirmed cases, 162 deaths and 5,408 recoveries as of March 31.
Social media posts falsely said Fallon, host of the late-night U.S. talk show “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” called Duterte “one of the best world leaders” for the way he has been dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.
Cavill, best known for his role as Superman, was shown calling Duterte a “Super President.” His quote purportedly came from celebrityquotes.com, a nonexistent website.
Among the first to post Cavill’s quote card was the Facebook page Du30 Media Network. It took down its March 19 post, but not before gaining about 4,400 likes and 2,250 shares, data from Facebook’s Crowdtangle showed.
Grey and Ri are both fictional characters in hit TV series.
Grey, a doctor in ABC’s “Grey's Anatomy,” is portrayed by actress Ellen Pompeo. The American series premiered in 2005 and has just wrapped up its 16th season.
Unfortunately, the fabricated quote had Grey calling Filipinos the “worst citizens.”
Ri, portrayed by actor Hyun Bin, is the North Korean captain who falls in love with a South Korean heiress who accidentally crash-lands in North Korea in the 2019 cable TV series “Crash Landing on You,” one of South Korea’s highest rated dramas.
Ri in the quote card described Duterte as “one of a kind”:
He is very brave and strong that he is even willing to eat volcanic ashes and shoot coronavirus for them.
While some netizens easily detected the fake quote cards, flagging them as “fake news,” others thought or hoped the statements were true. Of Chan’s supposed quote, the Facebook page Du34s, partly quoting columnist Wilson Lee Flores’ post, said:
We just received this post, hope it is true?
Xiexie! Thanks so much to the great, beloved & multi-awarded #Chinese actor, singer, comedian & #philanthropist @jackiechan #JackieChan of our good neighbor #HongKong for supporting us the #Philippines & President #Duterte!!!
This is real #goodnews, an example of valuable support in times of crisis! #celebrity #potd #photooftheday #instaphoto #instalike #instapic #nofilter #instadaily #picoftheday
Duterte and Go met Chan during his official trip to China last August.
The Philippines reported 2,084 cases of coronavirus infections, 88 deaths and 49 recoveries on March 31. The U.S. now has 164,729 confirmed cases, the highest in the world, 3,173 deaths and 5,945 recoveries. Hong Kong has recorded 714 confirmed cases, four deaths and 582 recoveries.
References
Choe, S. (2020, March 31). North Korea claims no coronavirus cases. Can it be trusted? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/world/asia/north-korea-coronavirus.html
Crashlanding on You. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.netflix.com/ph/title/81159258
Dante Sinns. (2020, March 22). dghan maigo ani [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=236527857745238&set=a.120600336004658&type=3&theater
Du30 Media Network (2020, March 19). [Facebook update]. (Editor’s Note: Post taken down. Retrieved from Crowdtangle Intelligence.)
Du34s. (2020, March 29). We just received this post, hope it is true? Jackie Chan is truly a friend of Pres. Duterte & Senator #BongGo, they all 3 had met in #Beijing before....[Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/du34s/posts/1142503366084909
Elmer Ganipis Pahayahay. (2020, March 24). [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4046152478735834&set=a.504988029518981&type=3
Flores, W. (2020, March 29). Someone sent this to me... Is this latest news true? Even if possibly fake, I know Jackie Chan admires Pres. Duterte & the Philippines, Chan is also a friend of Senator #BongGo, they all 3 had met in #Beijing to discuss #philanthropy… [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158356744657009&set=p.10158356744657009&type=3
Grey’s Anatomy. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://abc.com/shows/greys-anatomy
Kasulis, K. (2020, March 22). Alarm and scepticism over N Korea claim of being coronavirus free. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/alarm-scepticism-korea-claim-coronavirus-free-200319051628072.html
Wainer, D., & Lee, J. (2020, March 17). Who knows how many virus cases North Korea has. It says zero. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-16/north-korea-s-official-virus-tally-zero-experts-aren-t-so-sure