A Facebook page slammed former President Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino for allegedly tweeting that the billions his administration wasted over the wrong train coaches is “nothing compared” to the deaths due to the extrajudicial killings.
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Facebook page Ambag Bayan posted a screenshot of Aquino’s alleged tweet on October 15, 2017, where the former president allegedly wrote: “P3.8 billion lost for buying the wrong train coach is nothing compared to the lives killed by EJKs.”
The page hit Aquino and called him names as the page captioned the screenshot with this:
“DAFUQ?!
3.8B used wisely = more satisfied Pinoys = less would-be criminals = less patayan.
Kaya nga naging kriminal sila dahil sa hirap ng buhay dahil binulsa ninyo ang mga pera tang ‘na nyo!
BWESIT ka talaga ABNOY!
P.S. Whether this tweet is true or not ABNOY ka pa rin. Genetics yan!”
The post has been shared over 1,500 times and reacted to 2,700 times, as of writing.
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Based on the caption alone, even Ambag Bayan’s admins were not sure if Aquino really posted the tweet.
At first look, it does seem like a genuine tweet, with a layout similar to that of a real Twitter account and a Twitter handle and photo 100% similar to Aquino’s official Twitter account.
We checked Aquino’s official Twitter page and noticed that the account’s last tweet was made on July 6, 2016 with greetings for Eid Mubarak.
— Noynoy Aquino (@noynoyaquino) July 6, 2016
The second to the last tweet was made on June 29, 2016, a day before he stepped down from office.
— Noynoy Aquino (@noynoyaquino) June 30, 2016
But the tweet in Ambag Bayan’s screenshot was made on October 15, 2017.
Upon closer inspection, we noticed how there was a small mark on the lower right corner of the screenshot. It says “created @ tweeterino.com.”
A quick Google search showed that tweeterino.com is a fake tweet generator.
The website’s About page said that at the site, anyone can “generate a Fake Tweet image with any Twitter user” and share it with friends for laughs. It even showed several samples of fake tweets on its site.
Note how both images also bore the same sign at the lower right corner, “created @ tweeterino.com.”
This meant that the screenshot posted by Ambag Bayan of Aquino’s alleged tweet is that of a fake tweet made by fake tweet generator tweeterino.com.
Senator Grace Poe did suggest to have transport officials from the Aquino administration face trial over the purchase of P3.8 billion worth of train coaches that are not suitable for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 system.
Aquino also commented on President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, calling it “ineffective.” In August 1, 2017, ABS-CBN News quoted Aquino saying, “Parang walang nangyari,” noting that there seemed to be no difference between the number of drug addicts in the Dangerous Drugs Board statistics in 2015 and in 2016 during Duterte’s first year in the presidential seat.
This prompted Duterte to slam Aquino.
“Anong walang nangyari? Gago ka,” Duterte said on August 2.
“Sabi ni PNoy, ‘Parang walang nangyari.’ Sige, pumasok ka sa droga, PNoy, ‘pag hindi kita pinutulan ng ulo, buwang ka,” he added.
But as for the alleged EJKs under the Duterte administration, Aquino said that there are no EJKs in the Philippines. He considered the killings under the new administration as murders instead.
“If you say there is extrajudicial killings, then it means there is judicial killing. But I remember, we do not have the death penalty, so there is no judicial killing. Therefore, there is no extrajudicial killing. No judicial, no extrajudicial. So clearly, there is murder, there is homicide taking place,” Aquino said in Filipino as he spoke to reporters at the 34th commemoration of the death anniversary of his father, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
“May pinatay. May pumatay. Hanapin yung pumatay at bigyan ng kaukulang parusa,” he added.
“I’ve always said that however which way one looks at it, in the Constitution and in the church that I belong to, one death is one too many,” he said.
This meant Aquino does not believe in EJKs, choosing to see the killings under his successor’s administration as murders instead. This is in contrast to what Aquino allegedly said in the fake tweet.
Sources: ( mb.com.ph , rappler.com , inquirer.net )
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