A doctored photo of the Independence Day “Grand Mañanita” protesters at the University of the Philippines has been further manipulated in an attempt to belittle the crowd turnout.
In his June 12 post, Facebook user Bleu Blythe juxtaposed two crowd shots of the event on University Avenue, claiming that the bottom photo that showed protesters opposing the anti-terrorism bill occupying less than half of the street was “what their actual headcount look like.”
The status reads:
Napakagaling ng photographer nila napakahusay mag edit cam (The photographer is so skilled at editing). Beware to fake photos mga mars/pars.
An examination of the post reveals Bleu Blythe actually reposted the photos Banat Dy had uploaded to his Facebook page three hours earlier in which he acknowledged that the bottom photo has been altered:
yes, this is edited. obviously, duh?!
Bleu Blythe, however, further doctored the photo by removing the disclaimer.
The pro-Duterte Banat By, whose page was created only on March 22 but already has a following of more than 250,000, wrote in the post:
Magaling ang Pautographer nila. Mahusay mahusay. Banatan natin ito mamaya sa YouTube live 10pm (They have a good photographer. Really good. Let’s hit him later on YouTube live 10 pm).
Banat By’s channel on YouTube has around 362,000 subscribers.
A reverse image search indicates that the top photo shows the actual crowd turnout. Among those who published the photo was Twitter user Inigo Abellar who said it was a screenshot taken from Kodao Productions’ drone shot. Abella posted the image at 10:23 a.m. as the protest action was ongoing.
The photo Abellar tweeted is a cropped version of the original photo that is available on Kodao Productions’ Facebook page.
The Grand Mañanita is a mocking reference to Metro Manila police chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas’ birthday celebration last month which drew criticism for violating quarantine protocols. In defense, he said it was a “mañanita” or an early birthday celebration.
As of writing, Banat By’s post has over 8,000 likes, 1,900 comments, and 2,100 shares, while Bleu Blythe’s entry has over 1,100 likes, 18 comments, and 400 shares. (JE)
References
Abellar, I. [InigoAbellar]. (2020, June 12). LOOK: Independence day protest WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING at UP Diliman!#JunkTerrorBill #GrandMananita pic.twitter.com/rCtiMhGQr7 [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/InigoAbellar/status/1271266904624095232
Banat By. (2020, June 12). Magaling ang Pautographer nila. Mahusay mahusay. Banatan natin ito mamaya sa YouTube live 10pm [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/BanatBy/photos/a.111753190460824/153688359600640
Bleu Blythe. (2020, June 12). Napakagaling ng photographer nila napakahusay mag edit cam Beware to fake photos mga mars/pars [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2534493756880863&set=a.1403905713273012
Kodao Productions. (2020, June 12). AERIAL SHOT: 5,000 human rights advocates and activists observe physical distancing as they commemorate Philippine Independence Day and hold a 'Grand Mañanita' against the Duterte government's Anti-Terrorism Bill today, June 12, on University Avenue, University of the Philippines- Diliman, Quezon City [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/KodaoProductions/photos/a.10158374660014866/10158400603574866
Philippine National Police. (2020, May 12). NOW: Virtual presser with PNP Chief, Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pnp.pio/videos/2624329084559996/