A fanpage of Duterte, “Tatay Digong – Unofficial,” shared a news from todayinmanila.info with the headline announcing of Senator Antonio Trillanes’ arrest in “her” house, early Saturday morning on the 21st.
In case you were wondering, this was not a typographical error on our part; they actually used HER in the title to refer to Trillanes.
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Moreover, the link shared is no longer accessible and will redirect to a 404 error.
Further research has led us to believe that they were trying to copy the news from philstar.i-telecast.com, which is an identified fake news site as well.
According to this news, Trillanes was arrested by the police in the wee hours last Saturday at his residence.
Although no details on his arrest were released by the police, sources who had alleged close ties to the senator revealed that the arrest was in connection with the two men arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for trying to smuggle drugs outside of the country.
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According to the article, the two men were employees working at Senator Trillanes’ office, Edgar Ramirez and Glenn Silverio, who work as Head of Social Media and Executive Assistant, respectively.
However, the last time two men were arrested at NAIA was on November last year after retrieving a bag which contained illegal drugs. These men were named Mark Anthony Porto de Leon, a dance instructor, and Bryan Cortez, his companion.
A simple Google search will also lead to Trillanes’ official website, wherein his staff is listed. Upon verification, the site clearly names Mary Ann Villapando as his Executive Assistant and Joanne C. Ilao as the Head of Social Media and Sectoral Affairs.
These facts alone disprove the validity of the news being spread on the web.
Although the page has been taken down, the damage has been clearly done as netizens expressed their belief in the fake news.
This account even commented with stickers expressing her approval.
Another account expressed joy over Trillanes’ expression as he was arrested. This picture, however, was an old one taken during his arrest in 2007.
This account did not bother to check whether the news was true or fake and chose to believe in the headline instead.
While this account did not only believe the news, but also wanted to involve De Lima in the alleged arrest.
This proves the severity of how fake news affects our community and results in a society of misinformed citizens.
Trillanes is certainly not detained if his well-publicized exchange of words with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II is to be taken into consideration. On Tuesday, he responded to Aguirre calling him “sundalong kanin” with zero credibility by saying, “When the guilty is cornered, he or she usually resorts to name-calling.”
Sources: (gmanetwork.com, trillanes.com.ph, gulfnews.com, newsinfo.inquirer.net)
Be Informed. Beat the Trolls, Share the Truth!
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