Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto did not light up a bridge in red and green to allude to the colors President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte used in their election campaign, contrary to a claim made in recent social media posts.
The bridge was lit in red and green as part of a lighting ceremony to celebrate its opening on Nov. 28.
Twitter user @AlfredoGenom and Facebook page Leni’s Angat Buhay Spaghetti - Catering Services Network were among those who miscaptioned the photo of the Parklinks Bridge in their Nov. 29 posts, saying:
Galit sa DILAWAN si Vico Sotto kaya ginawang RED/GREEN ang pailaw sa bridge ng Pasig (Vico Sotto hates Dilawans, that’s why he had red and green lights on the bridge in Pasig).
“Dilawan” is a term often used by detractors of the Liberal Party, of which former Vice President Leni Robredo and former Sen. Francis Pangilinan are members. The expression alludes to the party’s use of the color yellow.
Robredo and Pangilinan lost to Marcos and Duterte in May. They adopted pink as their campaign color.
The photo appearing in the tweet and FB post bears the watermark of the Philippine Star with credits to photojournalist Walter Bollozos.
A reverse image search shows that the Philippine Star’s original caption on Nov. 28 reads:
The Parklinks Bridge linking Quezon City and Pasig was illuminated during a lighting ceremony on Monday.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto, Ayala Land Inc., Eton Properties Philippines Inc., and other officials led the lighting event.
Other photos in the post show the bridge lit in other colors – blue, purple, teal, white and yellow – apart from red and green during the lighting ceremony.
The Parklinks Bridge is a project of Eton Properties Philippines Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. Construction began in 2019.
During the presidential election, Sotto did not endorse any candidate, saying he preferred not to be involved in national politics.
The Pasig mayor on June 30 resigned from his party Aksyon Demokratiko, which fielded Manila Mayor Isko Moreno for president in the May polls. He said the decision did not concern “any particular person or candidate.”
As of writing, @AlfredoGenom’s tweet has garnered 763 likes, 102 retweets and 85 replies. The account was created in January 2020 and has 24,034 followers.
The post by Leni’s Angat Buhay Spaghetti - Catering Services Network has garnered 347 reactions, 24 comments and seven shares. Self-described as satire, the Facebook page was created in February 2021 and has at least 31,000 followers. (JS)