Shortly after Vice President Leni Robredo declared Thursday morning her decision to run for president next year, netizens were quick to put out manipulated photos showing Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., another presidential candidate, endorsing her and vice versa.
Robredo, Liberal Party chair whose candidacy is being backed by the anti-Duterte coalition Isambayan, Akbayan and Magdalo party-list groups and various civil society groups, defeated Marcos in the 2019 vice presidential race.
She filed her certificate of candidacy in the afternoon, a day after Marcos filed his as standardbearer of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas that he now chairs.
A doctored photo that first circulated on Facebook shows Robredo in white T-shirt holding a sign that reads, “Bong-Bong Marcos for President.”
A reverse image search traced the photo to a video uploaded on Jan. 21, 2020 to One News and Philippine Star Facebook pages. Robredo is seen distributing “lugaw” or rice porridge during relief operations her office conducted in Tuy, Batangas for evacuees of the Taal Volcano eruption.
In the original image, found 30 seconds into the video, the sign Robredo was holding reads, “Leni Lugaw,” a swipe at trolls who had used the word “lugaw” to mock her.
Robredo served lugaw to journalists and those who attended her announcement Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, a tampered photo of Marcos clutching the sign “Laban Leni 2022” appeared on Twitter. #LabanLeni2020 trended when Robredo announced her candidacy.
A reverse image search showed that the original photo was posted Wednesday afternoon on Marcos’ Facebook page after he filed his COC. He was holding his COC in the photo that shows his wife and sons flashing the V sign in the background.
References
Bongbong Marcos. (2021, October 6). With my family, I filed my Certificate of Candidacy today. Sama sama tayong babangon muli! [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=407162604111659&set=pb.100044537672013.-2207520000
One News. (2020, January 21). WATCH | Vice Pres. Leni Robredo serves "lugaw" or porridge to #TaalEruption2020 evacuees during relief operations in Tuy, Batangas [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=208386600191952
Philippine Star. (2020, January 21). ‘Leni lugaw’ for evacuees. Vice President Leni Robredo served lugaw and pandesal to residents affected by the Taal volcano's unrest at Barangay Bolbok, Tuy, Batangas on Tuesday [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1035900733436532