After Typhoon Nina hit Bicol on Christmas Day, netizens were up in arms in questioning just where Vice President Leni Robredo is, considering how her home province was affected by the typhoon. It was later reported that Robredo went to the US for her holiday break with her family and has been coordinating relief efforts from there, even using her residence to accommodate volunteers.
On December 27, Facebook fan page “Duterte Sa Masa” uploaded an article showing a photo of President Rodrigo Duterte in a flooded street and with this caption, “TWO days before Christmas, former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte flew to Sorsogon and Oriental Mindoro to give assistance and comfort the victims of Typhoon Nona.”
Other Duterte fan pages also shared articles about the same story of how Duterte, a president with a good heart, visited during Typhoon Nona.
[50_50_first]
[/50_50_first][50_50_second]
[/50_50_second]
We clicked on the article shared by Duterte Sa Masa and was directed to one published by blog filipinonewsonline.net. This is what we found.
According to the article, former Davao City Mayor Duterte flew to Sorsogon and Oriental Mindoro to provide assistance and comfort to the victims of Typhoon Nona. Yes, they wrote it as Nona, not Nina. He flew by chopper to towns affected by the typhoon, which left 40 people dead. He did it without making an announcement, deeming it unnecessary, according to a Duterte staff, adding that it was made so to avoid linking the gesture from Davao City as something that has to do with politics.
[ads1]
Duterte’s executive assistant Bong Go confirmed that they were in Sorsogon.
The report also said that the Davao City Council passed a resolution allowing Duterte to allocate P11 million from Davao City’s calamity fund to Nona victims.
The article cited the source as Newsdesk.Asia.
We Googled the contents of the article above and found these search engine results. Look at their dates.
Upon clicking on the article from Newsdesk, we found out that it was published on December 23, 2015 and its content is exactly the same as those published in the blogs being shared by Duterte fan pages. This meant it’s old news that was recycled, leading only to the confusion among the netizens.
It is true, though, that Duterte did Davao City donated P11 million to the areas hit by Typhoon Nona in 2015 and visited those areas too, based on this CNN Philippines report.
[ads2]
The photo that was used by in the blog filipinonewsonline.net and in the posts by the Duterte fan pages is also an old photo uploaded by durianburgdavao.wordpress.com on March 21, 2014 when Typhoon Caloy hit the country on that day.
By reposting old news, some netizens got confused, which is why one Facebook user tried to post clarifications.
For those looking for updates on Typhoon Nina, GMA News reported that President Duterte did visit Pili, Camarines Sur on Tuesday, two days after Typhoon Nina hit the province. He helped distribute relief goods, accompanied by some of his Cabinet secretaries. He also visited Catanduanes and distributed relief goods.
Sources: (philstar.com, durianburgdavao.wordpress.com, cnnphilippines.com, gmanetwork.com)
Be Informed. Beat the Trolls, Share the Truth!
[ads3]
