A recently uploaded video of former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II saying he won’t quit on the Philippines and offering his help is misleading.
The old video posted April 7 and 8 on Facebook and YouTube was released by Roxas in mid-October of 2018 when he announced he would run again for the Senate, two years after his failed bid for the presidency.
It is not related to the coronavirus pandemic as some posts imply.
Several posts, one of which picked up 350,000 views within just a day the video was uploaded to Facebook, culled 17 seconds from the four-and-a-half-minute video Roxas shared Oct. 15, 2018 on his official Facebook page.
Roxas’ abridged quote:
And so here we are: I don’t have any quit in me and I won’t quit on our country. Kung sa tingin ninyo makakatulong pa ako, handa ako. Ino-offer kong muli ang sarili ko sa inyo (If you think I can still help, I am ready. I am offering myself again to you).
The viral Facebook post simply said, “May mensahe po si Mar (Mar has a message)” in its update, clearly omitting to supply context, particularly when and why the video was released.
An online search shows Roxas has not released any recent video or photo on his official social media accounts.
His last post on Facebook was on Oct. 8 last year where he condoled with the family of artist and activist Carlos Celdran. He has no new posts on his Instagram account since Dec. 22.
His wife, broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez-Roxas, regularly posts pictures and videos of their family, mostly of their twins who turned a year old in February.
She posted on her Instagram account a photo of Roxas with the twins on April 4 and with their son on April 8.
The recycled video comes at a time netizens are heatedly discussing President Rodrigo Duterte’s handling of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many of them recalling accusations and complaints against Roxas’ approach to the humanitarian crisis triggered by super typhoon “Yolanda” (“Haiyan”) in 2013.
Roxas lost in the 2019 senatorial race. He was the biggest victim of disinformation in the elections, mostly through rehashed photos and videos that poked fun at him, a study of two University of the Philippines faculty members showed.
The Facebook page that gathered 350,000 views for the video within a day also earned 8,000 likes, nearly 9,000 comments and 5,800 shares. It was created in January 2019 by Patrick, a “gamer” who has 1,300 followers.
References
Mar Roxas airing a cupboard of his own words [Video]. (2020, April 8). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1lLzkChVkI
Patrick. (2020, April 7). May mensahe po si Mar [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/Patrici026/videos/1294886364233642/
Roxas, Mar. (2018, October 15). Hello again [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=external&v=299289010674440
Roxas, M. (2019, October 8). Am stunned to hear the very sad news of Carlos Celdran’s passing… [Facebook update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/mar.roxas.official/posts/10156821959784353?__xts__[0]=68.ARBrgOPKt7KXnVbivDQb1M5OhkDZ5kd7-2KeahdmEsDLJAwToW-f-PrsMy6ozp3XXalbO_XTdPkn5yCTCirsXnWdOsifAv793_4nIejuwtyVpkmX4TQpx_qjyaOipGvFJW5BiqNwE-N_5S7nDj9Sf8IE00rXKylFhFHTxsDGJH0Qew0T80tIsHhXx7HYkliAt2XyOrdKZlWuk2RZ8rfGLHoWd5zJlfvdyU4k303YNh6aGZg8QQeYnmH7THc4Wh-B5pGwA_qphiKpTMwpdUqXdansByy8drY8qq1bzpND-WmCxkSoWj6ZT5-Z13bCNNiMLFDHIn-vT4tegpKn_A&__tn__=-R
Roxas, M. (2019, December 22). Unahan ang mag-Lola who will put the other to sleep [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/B6X3sdcHwif/
Sanchez-Roxas, K. (2020, April 4). Pag nahuli na sila ng Pappi nila, wala nang kawala. Ayan, diba mukhang mga binihag? [Instagram photo]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jhFZNF9mA/
Sanchez-Roxas, K. (2020, April 8). And to end the day, let’s celebrate...Pepe! O, ayan haaaaaa..... Sweet dreams everyone! Thanking God for our health and safety [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uIy1CFuHb/
Soriano, J., & Chua, Y. (2019, September 26). Senate bill goes after online ‘fake news,’ but Tsek.ph data point to wider problem. Retrieved from https://tsek.ph/article/senate-bill-goes-after-online-fake-news-tsekph-data-point-wider-problem