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  • 2021-08-23 (xsd:date)
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  • Video does not show Duterte sacking his health secretary (en)
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  • A video has been viewed thousands of times in Facebook posts that claim it shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announcing he would jail his health secretary due to mistakes during the pandemic. The claim is false: the video does not mention Duterte would fire or jail the health official. The government has made no such announcement as of August 23, 2021. The YouTube video was posted on August 15. It has been viewed more than 50,000 times. The Tagalog-language title reads: JUST IN: GOOD NEWS! PRES. DUTERTE WILL IMPRISON DUQUE DUE TO ANOMALIES IN DOH, WILLIE ONG IS IN. Duque refers to Francisco Duque III, chief of the Philippine Department of Health (DOH). Willie Ong is a Filipino celebrity doctor. The video's thumbnail appears to show Duque behind bars. The superimposed text reads: IMPRISON HIM! and DUTERTE WILL JAIL DUQUE, YOU’RE DEAD! A screenshot of the misleading post taken on August 22, 2021 The posts circulated online after state auditors on August 11 reported deficiencies involving the management of some 67 billion pesos (1.3 billion USD) in the health department’s pandemic funds. The Philippine Commission on Audit found the funds remained idle. It said the funds were not translated to much-needed health supplies, equipment and services that could have benefited both the health workers and the general public during the critical times of the pandemic. The same video was also shared on Facebook here and here alongside a similar claim. Comments on the posts suggested some social media users believed Duque had genuinely been sacked and jailed. Thank you Duterte for making him pay for what he’s done! one commented. Another wrote: [It is] only right for Duque to be imprisoned. The video, however, has been shared alongside a false claim. Fabricated claim Nowhere in the clip does Duterte announce that he would fire or jail Duque. The footage actually shows an extract from the president’s spokesperson’s August 12 press briefing , in which he said Duterte would await Duque’s response to the audit report before he would publicly comment. Now, it’s still premature, spokesperson Harry Roque said. The DOH has to submit its response, so let’s wait for it. The president is keen to read the answers. The health department maintained in an August 16 release that billions worth of deficiencies had been mostly resolved by DOH and its operating units. On the evening of August 16, Duterte said in a taped meeting he would not accept Duque's resignation if he offered it. I know you want to resign, but you know that I will refuse you, Duterte told him. The president reiterated his support to Duque in a speech aired on August 21. Even if I stand alone, I will stand for Duque, even if it will bring me down, Duterte said. As of August 23, there has been no official government statement that Duque has been fired or jailed. The office of the presidential spokesperson told AFP on August 19 they had no information in response to the misleading claim that Duque would be jailed. Altered image Reverse image searches found Duque's altered image in the video's thumbnail was taken from this article by Philippine news outlet Rappler. Below is a screenshot comparison of the video’s thumbnail (L) and the original photo (R): (en)
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