Some netizens have once again fallen for what was claimed to be a “satirical” article that wove the story about how Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano proposed to have Marawi’s name changed into “Hapi” following terrorist leader Isnilon Hapilon’s death.
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The source? Okd2.com, whose numerous articles we’ve debunked before.
But despite the story having clearly come from an unreliable source such as okd2.com, some netizens still bought the story to be true, reacting to it and lambasting Alejano for his alleged proposal.
“Philippine News Courier’s” Facebook page shared the story on October 22 and it has since been shared 148 times.
Okd2.com claimed that Alejano suggested on October 21 to rename Marawi City after the slain Hapilon, who was killed by government troops on October 16.
He was quoted by the website saying: “Pag naririnih (sic) ko ang marawi nalulungkot ako. Bakit hindi natin palitan yan sa Hapi, para lahat masaya? Maliban sa ini-encourage natin ang mga tao para sumaya, naalala din natin ang pagkamatay ni Hapilon.”
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Okd2.com even threw a reference to another story they wrote about how Alejano allegedly wanted “Lupang Hinirang” replaced as the Philippines’ national anthem, which is a fake, of course.
And this story about “Hapi” for Marawi was under Okd2’s “Humor & Satire” category.
Unfortunately, some people probably did not bother clicking on the Okd2 link and just went right into the comments section to bash Alejano after reading the headline.
If only these commenters redirected their energy at feeling outraged at Okd2’s claims to researching and verifying those claims, they would not have wasted their time on a false story.
Alejano did release a statement commending the Armed Forces of the Philippines in ending the Marawi crisis with an article on Abante Tonite.
“Isang maliwanag na tagumpay ito ng ating AFP at ng ating bansa laban sa terorismo,” Alejano wrote.
“Kaya naman, ang sambayanan ay sumasaludo at nagpapasalamat sa ating Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana, AFP Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año, mga opisyales at mga tropa sa kanilang pagpupursige na wakasan ang krisis sa Marawi sa pamamagitan nang pag-alay ng kanilang buhay at serbisyo,” he added.
This is not the first fake news about Alejano. Aside from the Lupang Hinirang replacement story, there was also a false story about how Alejano was required by mall security guards to get out of the mall and how the House panel junked Alejano’s impeachment complaint against Duterte.
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