No new evidence of corruption involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has recently been made public, contrary to a YouTube thumbnail’s claim that he is going to prison because of this.
A video posted on Nov. 30, by Boses ng Masa claimed that substantial evidence of corruption involving the president has been made public.
MATINDING EBIDENSYA LABAN SA KATIWALIAN NG PANGULO ISINAPUBLIKO NA! PBBM MAKUKULONG NA (Strong evidence of the president’s corruption made public!! PBBM is going to jail)!!
The video presented no evidence to support its claim. Instead, it showed an unrelated video of a reunion of former President Rodrigo Duterte, former Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr. . and Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go uploaded by Go on TikTok on June 3.
It also included a June 6 “Kapihan sa Senado” session where Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian answered questions about the Senate investigation on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. He made no mention of any newly publicized evidence linking Marcos to corruption.
Marcos enjoys immunity from civil or criminal charges while in office.
At least three cases were decided by the Supreme Court before Marcos became president. He and his family were ordered to return their ill-gotten wealth, including Swiss bank accounts and other assets illegally acquired during the dictatorship of his father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. He was also convicted in 1995 of tax evausion and has not paid his family’s estate tax despite a 1997 court ruling.
No media outlets have reported corruption cases recently filed against Marcos.
The thumbnail of the misleading YouTube video shows a photo of Marcos alongside an image of policemen holding handcuffs, implying his supposed impending arrest.
A reverse image search reveals Marcos’ photo was taken on May 11, 2022 outside his campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong following his landslide victory in the presidential polls that same year.
The video was uploaded amid the split between Marcos and his former running mate Vice President Sara Duterte stemming from the latter’s alleged misuse of funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education when she was its secretary. Duterte has also issued death threats against the president, his wife Liza and his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The video has garnered 8,246 views and 427 likes as of writing. The channel, created on May 23, 2022, has over 67,600 subscribers. (LB)