German Chancellor Angela Merkel allegedly praised President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs and terrorism and hailed him as one of the “giants of the 21st century,” according to some online blogs.
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The story was carried by blogs such as city-herald.com with the title “Angela Merkel praises Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte as a “Giant of the 21st century.”
Another blog, pilipinas.altervista.org, picked up the story with a slightly different title, “German Leader Angela Merkel: Duterte is one of the “Giants of the 21st Century.”
Other blogs also published the story and are now being shared by social media users.
What caught our attention is that aside from copying the story from city-herald.com word for word, pilipinas.altervista.org added one paragraph to the article expressing how proud they are of Duterte and how, as Duterte supporters, they should defend the President by “sharing factual news for him.”
“As a Filipino, we are all proud of our elected president now despite of the fact that there are many people who wants to bring him down. We are always here for him, for his battle against illegal drugs and for the betterment of our country. Are you one of us? Share your thoughts in the comment and Share this news in your own timeline in social media. Let us start a brigade of defending our President and sharing factual news for him. – Proud Pinoy,” they wrote.
So, let’s check just how “factual” this City Herald article is about Merkel allegedly praising Duterte and calling him a 21st century giant.
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According to City Herald, Duterte, as a ‘giant,’ can be compared to other world leaders, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the late South African President Nelson Mandela. Merkel allegedly made this statement during a “Thursday” meeting, although the article is undated, with some Asian countries in Berlin. She was reported to have said that the world needs tough leaders like Duterte in fighting the ills of the world and praised Duterte for his ‘bravery’ in taking the Philippines to the ‘right direction.’
However, we could not confirm their claim about Merkel praising Duterte, let alone her calling the Philippine president as one of the century’s “giants.”
The reports that we found relevant to the two leaders were merely about Merkel congratulating Duterte for winning the 2016 Philippine election. In her congratulatory message to Duterte, sent via the German embassy in Manila on May 31, Merkel told the Philippine leader that the PH-Germany ties are “characterized by friendship and trust based on common values.”
“That includes our shared conviction that democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and inclusive economic growth are indispensable for sustainable development,” Merkel said in a statement.
In February 2017, Duterte apologized to Germany for the beheading of a German hostage by the armed group Abu Sayyaf, an act that Merkel condemned as an “abominable act.”
We checked the other stories published by City Herald and found several fake news in it. This is enough to make readers suspect the veracity of the claims of the other articles on the site. Some of their fake articles include Putin calling former Philippine President Fidel Ramos blind to Duterte’s achievements, the United Nations calling an emergency meeting to talk about Duterte, and Duterte arrested during ASEAN Summit in Laos.
City Herald is the same site that published the death hoax about incarcerated South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius committed suicide and died in his prison cell.
The story about Merkel praising Duterte and calling him one of this century’s giants is a fake one, as the report cannot be confirmed by credible sources and the source of the story has published several fake articles before. Beware of the site if you encounter it again online if you don’t want to fall victim to fake news.
Sources: ( rappler.com , aljazeera.com )
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