Manipulated photo shows Pangilinan eating with Marcoses

A photo of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family has been altered to falsely show independent senatorial candidate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan joining them in a boodle fight. 

The manipulated image was posted by Facebook page No to Liberal Party on April 19, accompanied by a laughing emoji.

A Google reverse image search revealed that the original photo of the Marcos family was taken on April 17 during their Holy Week vacation at Suba Beach in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. The First Couple also celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary. 

First Lady Liza Marcos uploaded the image to her Facebook page on April 18 with the caption:

Boodling our hearts out on our anniversary day!   

Suba beach, Ilocos Norte | 17 April 2025

Pangilinan’s image showing him eating mustasa or green mustard leaves was inserted into the photo using a flipped still from a Facebook video uploaded on April 14 by Pampanga vlogger Romeo Sagum Catacutan. It was extracted at the 32-second mark.

During his Pampanga campaign stop, the senatorial candidate visited Catacutan’s farm in San Luis on April 9 to shoot a food blog collaboration as a part of his advocacy for food security.  

Netizens mocked Pangilinan for eating with his hands and from a pot lid. He later clarified through a Facebook live that this was a common practice in  Pampanga, taught to him by his late father who was a Kapampangan. 

Catacutan also clarified that the senatorial candidate was eating mustasa leaves, not banana leaves as some commenters claimed. 

Some of the comments on the manipulated image poked fun at both Marcos and Pangilinan. One user wrote, “Nagsama sama na ang mga bangag at mahangin (The high and arrogant have joined forces).”

As of writing, the post has garnered 25,500 reactions–24,900 of them are laughter reacts–1,800 comments and 2,400 shares. The Facebook page has 109,000 followers. (JAG)