Palace Communications Secretary Martin Andanar and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. were allegedly denied entry into the United States and had been detained until their deportation, according to an article posted by usa-television.com.
It was announced last week that Andanar and Esperon are set to leave the country by Tuesday, January 17, as the representatives of the Philippines for President Donald Trump’s inauguration. which took place last January 20.
According to usa-television.com, Andanar and Esperon were detained upon their arrival at the JFK Airpot in New York by Wednesday until they were deported back to the Philippines by late Thursday.
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The article claimed that Andanar and Esperon, along with 14 other people from 6 different countries, were sent back due to the lack of proof that they were indeed invited to the inauguration.
The claims have been investigated by Memebuster.net and we found out that this article has no concrete basis for its claims at all.
Firstly, Andanar and Esperon did not arrive at JFK Airport by Wednesday because their first stop before going to New York was Los Angeles, California. Andanar met with the Filipino-American media in Los Angeles as part of their first official stop on the said trip where he discussed several topics with the Philippines’ hosting of the ASEAN Summit being one of those.
Moreover, a detailed report about the series of activities and meetings attended by Andanar and Esperon upon their arrival in New York by Wednesday had been released to the media.
Andanar and Esperon met with Patrick Chuasoto, the Philippine Embassy Charge d’Affaires by Wednesday along with Migrante Heritage Commission executive directors Jesse Gatchalian, Grace Divina Valera, and lawyer Arnedo Valera.
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The Cabinet officials had also reportedly attended a meeting with the US Philippines Society since the invitation for Trump’s inauguration was extended to Andanar by the founding director of US-Philippines Society, Henry B. Howard, a long-time friend of Andanar’s grandfather.
Moreover, Andanar and Esperon attended a roundtable discussion focusing on the Philippines’ relationship with Southeast Asia and met with US State Department officials before finally proceeding to the Philippine Embassy for the US Reception Party to mark the inauguration of the 45th US President, Donald Trump.
“I wish the success of Mr. Donald Trump in the next four years as America’s new chief executive. He looks forward to working with the incoming administration for enhanced Philippines-US relations anchored on mutual respect, mutual benefit, and shared commitment to democratic ideals and the rule of law,” Anadanar said.
The same site, usa-television.com, also published fake stories about Senator Leila De Lima buying a New York mansion and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte winning as the best mayor.
A certain Adam Abdulai even shared the fake news to Duterte fan page “President Rody Duterte Facebook Army,” but netizens didn’t buy it.
Sources: (news.abs-cbn.com, sunstar.com)
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