FACT CHECK: Contrary to claim, media reported on ex-president Duterte’s visit to landslide victims
Claim: Mainstream media did not report former president Rodrigo Duterte’s October 29 visit to landslide victims in Talisay, Batangas.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The claim can be found in a video uploaded on the YouTube channel “DUTERTE TV.” The video’s title states: “Just in! Hindi binabalita ng mainstream media! Buti na lang may NET 25????????! PDU30 naiyak sa nakita?!”
(Just in! Not reported by mainstream media! It’s good that we have NET 25! [President Duterte] in tears from what he saw?)
Throughout the video, the following text can be seen: “Hindi binalita ng media ang pagbisita ni Pres. Duterte sa Talisay!” (Media did not report the visit of Pres. Duterte to Talisay!)
As of writing, the video has 51,569 views and 468 comments. It was posted on November 1, several days after at least 20 people were killed in the October 24 landslide triggered by rain from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine.
The facts: Contrary to the claim, the media reported Duterte’s visit to the families of the landslide victims in Talisay.
Mainstream media outlets that wrote news articles or social media posts about the visit include ABS-CBN News, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, Philippine Star, Inquirer.net, GMA News, and News 5 on October 29, as well as the Daily Tribune on October 30.
Meanwhile, those that showed video footage include ABS-CBN News, News 5, and UNTV News and Rescue on October 29.
Drug war hearing: The video about Duterte’s visit was posted several days after the former president showed up at the October 28 Senate hearing on his administration’s war on drugs. During the hearing, Duterte made several admissions regarding the drug war, such as the existence of a “death squad” with police serving as their leaders and his telling the police to encourage criminals to fight back to give cops a pretext to kill them.
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While Duterte said that he takes “full legal responsibility” for police activities during the drug war, he then denied responsibility for the 2017 killings of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos by three police officers in Caloocan and 20-year-old Karl Anthony Nunez. Duterte said he was responsible for the policies under his administration, but not for the specific crimes. – Percival Bueser/ Rappler.com
Percival Bueser is a Rappler fact check contributor. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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