At least five Facebook (FB) accounts revived the false claim that President Rodrigo Duterte was recently recognized by TIME magazine as a strongman, a title that all five misleadingly framed as praise.
This is not true. In the first and last weeks of June, netizens and FB pages Mahal ko bansa ko, SOLID Duterte, and Pres. Digong Supporters recycled a two-year old TIME magazine article by American political scientist Ian Bremmer.
In the story, Bremmer labeled Duterte and his counterparts in Russia, Turkey and Hungary as strongmen, although it meant anything but a compliment. The title was even decried by Duterte, saying he “never sent anybody to jail for talking or bad mouthing” him.
In a follow-up article after Duterte’s denial, Bremmer stood by his story and said strongmen were “leaders who’ve won elections in their countries while restricting basic freedoms to tighten their hold on power.” He then pointed out Duterte’s war on drugs that killed thousands “including children, most of them poor people,” and the persecution of his critics including Sen. Leila de Lima and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
Three of the five spurious posts used a photo of the “2009 TIME 100” magazine cover juxtaposed with a Reuters photo of Duterte. It carried the text, translated from Filipino, “President Duterte recognized again by TIME Magazine as ‘strongman’ in the world!”
The two other posts used a 2018 cover of the news magazine. The particular issue featured strongmen. The FB posts, however, but did not indicate that the TIME feature was outdated. A similar claim, but in video format, made the rounds in May.
The five false posts came as the Duterte administration continued to face criticism over a number of issues, including the still-rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, the shutting down of media giant ABS-CBN, and the controversial Anti-Terror Bill which was called “a human rights disaster in the making” by the Human Rights Watch. The bill was signed into law by Duterte on Friday.
Collectively, the posts have accumulated over 600 comments, 3,200 reactions, and 2,800 shares from netizens on FB. Mahal ko bansa ko, Pres. Digong Supporters and SOLID Duterte were created in February, July, and April 2020, respectively.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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