In what appears to be a continuation of its previous story about the “Yellows” renting Superferry ships to take people from Visayas and Mindanao to the September 21 rally in Manila, the fake news site now claimed that the protesters remained stranded at the Batangas and Manila ports, while the Liberal Party and militant group BAYAN are pointing fingers at each other.
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Pinoyobserver.com, a fake news site, said that the VisMin protesters were stranded at the ports because they “arrived a day earlier” than the estimated night arrival on September 20. They had nowhere to stay, said a local organizer, and did not know where to go because they expected to be docked in Manila, not in Batangas.
The protest organizer, as quoted by Pinoy Observer, allegedly told the Batangas port’s chief of security: “Malaking problema po ito dahil hindi namain napaghandaan ang pag-bago ng schedule. Dapat kasi bukas pa sila ng hapon or ng gabi darating para rally na agad kinabukasan. Ang malaking problema po namin ngayon ay kung saan sila patutuluyin mula ngayon hanggang sa Sept. 21. We really didn’t expect this to happen. Wala rin kaming bus na mag-hakot sa kanila mula dito sa pier papunta sa Maynila, at di namin alam kung ano ang gagawin namin sa kanila pag-dating dun.”
One of protesters allegedly said: “Hindi naman kasi naman alam na ganito ang mangyayari e. Ni wala kaming dalang pambili ng pag-kain. Naubos na yong pag-kain namin sa barko.”
Pinoy Observer further said that their sources said the local organizers offered to pay the VisMin protesters to join the September 21 rally.
And the story has been shared over 7,000 times, as of writing, based on Facebook Articles search results.
But the only sources that carried that story included Pinoy Observer and the other blogs that later copied the blog’s article.
Aside from the source of the story being a fake news site, we also tried to search for the real story behind the featured image used in the article, which was of people sleeping on what appeared to be seats in a public place.
But the photo is not that of people stranded in a Batangas port but of stranded ferry passengers who were stranded at the “north harbor in Manila” due to Typhoon Hagupit on December 5, 2014.
Image: Screenshot of an Enca report
LP, BAYAN blaming each other?
In another story, Pinoy Observer claimed that LP and BAYAN pointed fingers at each other over who to blame for the problems with the stranded passengers.
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The blog’s source allegedly said, “With more than 1 day before the rally, these people here will suffer hunger and will have nothing to do. The port authorities have no idea who is to blame. They can’t just drive these people away. They don’t have money and need help.”
Pinoy Observer further claimed that both LP and BAYAN refused to comment on the problem and were instead focused on providing the stranded passengers food and other basic necessities. They added that the protesters wanted to return home due to exhaustion.
The story was also shared a thousand times on Facebook.
Just like with the previous story about the Yellows renting Superferry to bring VisMin protesters to Manila for the September 21 rally, former Arroyo adviser on special concerns Abe Purugganan also shared this story.
We also checked out the feature image Pinoy Observer used in this story on Google and found out that it was, once again, a photo taken in 2014 and used by Inquirer in its report on the stranded passengers in Cebu City Pier 1 on December 30, 2014.
But even Pinoy Observer’s About page has a message for “gullible” people – this website is not for you. Its intended target? The “highly intelligent, smart, resourceful, and versatile people.”
Pinoy Observer published fake stories and had once described itself as a satirical blog. This story about LP and BAYAN getting VisMin protesters for the September 21 rally, who are now stranded in Batangas port, is just another addition to its long list of fake articles.
Some of the fake and satirical stories from the site that we busted include BAYAN Secretary-General Renato Reyes asking Duterte for an executive job so he will stop protesting, thousands of slippers with Robredo’s name found in abandoned NPA camp, Agot Isidro forced to check out of her Boracay hotel, CBCP asking for donations for priests caught with a minor, Andres Bautista’s aide caught at the airport carrying millions, and more.
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