A photo of controversial Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Leal Guo has been altered to make it appear like former president Rodrigo Duterte was whispering to her and imply they were close.
Amid an ongoing Senate investigation on Guo’s nationality and supposed ties to offshore gaming operators in her town, Facebook page Pilipinas Today posted the edited image on May 13 with the caption:
MAYOR GUO, UMAMING ’TINULUNGAN NI DIGONG PARA MAHALAL (MAYOR GUO ADMITS DUTERTE HELPED HER GET ELECTED)
“Tinulungan din po ako (sa pagkakandidato noong 2022) ng mga kaibigan, tinulungan din po ako ng previous administration din po,” pag-amin ni Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo sa Senate hearing, tinukoy ang administrasyon ni dating Pangulong Duterte (“I was also helped by my friends, I was also helped by the previous administration,” Bamban, Tarlac Maylor Alice Guo said in a Senate hearing, referring to the previous Duterte administration).
Unlike the photo, the quote accompanying the image was accurate. It was Guo’s answer at a Senate hearing on May 7 when Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked about the source of her 2022 campaign funds.
A reverse image search reveals that Guo’s photo, originally in color, was taken during a mass wedding in Bamban on March 14 and posted on her Facebook page with the caption:
The most important thing is to enjoy your life to be happy, it's all that matters!! Congratulations newlyweds hihihi kilig na kilig ako (I am so excited)!!
Duterte’s photo, on the other hand, was inserted to Guo’s. Also originally in color, it was taken by the Presidential Communications Operations Office during his speech at the inauguration of the new Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on May 23, 2022.
When he was in office, Duterte defended Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs, saying they were clean and not involved in illicit activities. He also said they should return to the country so the government could generate more revenue through taxes.
Duterte has not yet directly addressed his alleged involvement in the controversies surrounding Guo.
Pilipinas Today’s post has garnered only 23 reactions, 33 comments and nine shares. But Wanna Fact PH, another Facebook page that published the same image and caption later in the day, drew more than 7,400 reactions, 2,100 comments and 700 shares for its post. The image and caption have been also reposted on X/Twitter and Tiktok. (KM)