A social media post claiming various attractions in foreign countries are lit up in celebration of the landslide win of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte is false.
Facebook user Maricel Bautista Nastor Arellano posted on May 10, a day after elections, photos of the Kingdom Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Calgary Tower in Canada, Eiffel Tower in France, Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the Auckland Sky Tower in New Zealand lit up in red and green to mark Marcos and Duterte’s victory.
Its caption reads:
Proud Pilipino Ibat iba bansa bumabati at nagagalak satin tagumpay
(Proud Filipino Different countries offer their greetings and are delighted by our victory ).
Green and red are the campaign colors of the Marcos-Duterte team.
Light shows featured in the post were for different reasons, and most of the photos were taken before the May 9 elections.
The post also mistakenly labeled Auckland’s Sky Tower as the Macau Tower. According to its website, Sky Tower lights up in red and green in celebration of Christmas day. The photo was uploaded by Marco Klapper in December 2015.
The Eiffel Tower was lit up in red and green in June 2016 to represent the Portugal national football team. The photo was posted in July 2016 by the Facebook page Coimbra, Erasmus 2003/2004 in celebration of the same team qualifying for the finals of the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship.
In August 2019, the Burj Khalifa showcased Afghanistan’s flag in celebration of its 100th independence day. The photo used was posted by Facebook page Afghanistan nature in 2020.
A reverse image search on the photos of the Calgary Tower turned up no exact match, but no mention of a Marcos-Duterte celebration is logged on the tower’s light show schedule for May.
Kingdom Tower in Riyadh was previously fact-checked after a similar claim falsely said it was lit up red in support of Marcos.
The Facebook post has over 5,000 shares and 2,500 reactions. Similar posts that included the same set of photos have over 3,500 interactions. (ML)