Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, along with other Miss Universe candidates, visited the Philippines a few days ago and obviously enjoyed their stay in the country. Aside from congratulating the newly crowned beauty queen, some opportunists took advantage of the visit by spreading fake news about Nel-Peters.
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The fake story tellers wove a tale of how Nel-Peters allegedly said that her “dream” was to work with President Rodrigo Duterte because she “admires” his work. The story can be traced back to the fake news site france24-tv.com, although the website is no longer available, as of writing. Its headline and the URL of the website is still viewable on Facebook though.
But other blogs seemed to have copied the fake story, such as newstargetph.info and du30.altervista.org. The story was also shared by Facebook pages “Dugong Maharlika,” “I love our President – Tatay Digong,” and “Pageant Philippines PH,” with the last page even posting a longer version of the story about Nel-Peters alleged praises for President Duterte.
In the screenshots taken above, Nel-Peters allegedly said that like Duterte, she also hates drugs and will work with leaders to stop illegal drugs, especially in Asian countries. She was even quoted saying the following:
“I have been admiring the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. I must admit here I hate drugs. Our Youth have been spoilt by drug lords. With Duterte Philippines is set to develop robustly.”
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“My first duty will be working with the Philipines (sic) Government to ensure tourism sector is improved. Yes, Philippines is blessed with beautiful beaches and a hardworking president as well. I will also work with Duterte to create awareness on the use of harmful substances. I don’t care how much it will cost me.”
However, the statements allegedly made by the South African beauty can only be found in dubious sources online.
It turns out this is yet another fake story from france24-tv.com, which was the same site that spread the fake story about the ICC prosecutor saying that they are not going to put President Duterte on trial.
And yet another story has come out portraying Nel-Peters as someone who supports Duterte and his administration’s war against illegal drugs. The blog philnewscourier.blogspot.com claimed that the reigning Miss Universe said that she said the following:
“Yes, I support any kind of war against illegal drugs, especially how it is being done here in the Philippines. I know that this is not easy, but I can see that a lot of Filipinos are supporting your president, and I think that’s a good sign.”
“There are different opinions about it, so I can only hope that the victims will get justice.”
Again, these statements can only be found on philnewscourier.blogspot.com.
All these mean that Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters never really said anything about supporting President Duterte and his war on drugs or that she dreams of working with Duterte. Just like how the fake story tellers claimed that Hollywood stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matt Damon, Jackie Chan, and Angelina Jolie praised Duterte, this is one more story added to our ever growing list of fake tales.
Nel-Peters arrived in the Philippines on December 6. She visited the country with Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere and other Miss Universe 2017 candidates from Italy, Spain, China, India, Russia, Canada, Malaysia, Great Britain, and Singapore. They visited Batanes, Bohol, Vigan, and Camiguin to help promote the country.
She did comment on the beauty of the Philippines and how she would recommend the country to her friends. She described the Filipinos as “warm” and “welcoming.”
She ended her visit on December 10.
Sources: ( news.abs-cbn.com , facebook.com/radyopilipinas1 )
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