President Rodrigo Duterte has made it known that he sees Russian leader Vladimir Putin as his “idol” and “hero.” When he finally met Putin during the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru on November 19, Duterte even brought up Western “hypocrisy” and “bullying” of small nations, as well as his drug war. While listening to Duterte’s interpreter, Rappler reported that Putin had a small smile on his face.
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Duterte later narrated to reporters how he became “fast friends” with Putin, while taking note of how the Russian leader kept on smiling and repeatedly inviting him to Russia.
But has that “friendship” led Putin to pray for Duterte’s protection, as per the claims of some websites?
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According to the article, Putin asked his people to pray for the global leaders of good will during a year end party at the Grand Kremlin.
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His prayer allegedly went like this: “Dear Lord Almighty, please always protect Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and keep him safe from any danger so he can do his job to the best of his ability and for the good of all Filipino people… We ask this through Christ our Lord… Amen.”
The article even claimed that Putin “shouted loudly” while praying, noting in the end how the Russian leader shocked people because it is “not his habit to mind other’s business.”
It turned out that the article picked up by dutertetrendnews.blogspot.com actually came from the fake news site fox-channel.com. And as expected of the site, Putin’s prayer for Duterte is another fake story.
Fox-channel.com has published a lot of fake news that we’ve busted in the past, many of which have successfully duped Filipino netizens. The site proves to be effective in making up statements, in this article, even a prayer, to make their hoaxes look believable to the undiscerning readers.
This is the same site that has made up stories about De Lima being thrown out of a Berlin conference hall, British PM wanting to be like Duterte, De Lima’s son being arrested for carrying drugs, and more.
If you traced the source of an article to fox-channel.com, then there’s a chance that it is fake news. Make sure to verify its claims first before believing them or sharing them online, which will lead to wider disinformation among netizens.
Sources: (globalnation.com, rappler.com)
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