Online reports claimed on Monday that the United States has removed American troops from the Philippines.
Facebook search results showed that the story has already been shared over 2,000 times after it was published on the social networking sites such as states-tv.com and kdramaislifeu.info.
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However, the story came from the fake news site states-tv.com.
This is what states-tv.com claimed about the American troops and their alleged departure from the Philippines.
“The United States has ordered its troops in the Philippines fighting the Islamist Militants to leave the Filipino camp for the US.
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The removal of the US troops comes after the President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte denied ever seeking assistance from the US to fight the terrorist group.
The US released a statement through its embassy in Manila that US assistance in fighting the Islamist Militants were provided at the request of President Duterte.
President Duterte, however said on Sunday he did not seek support from Washington to end the siege of a southern Philippines town by Islamist militants.
The US described Duterte’s words as “disappointing and unfortunate.””
Unlike states-tv.com’s claim, the US has not ordered its troops to go back home and leave the Philippines.
Since some American soldiers were even spotted in Marawi City on June 11 by GMA News reporter Raffy Tima, their presence in the besieged city was confirmed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on June 15.
“There are some US personnel who are operating equipment to provide information on situation awareness to our troops,” AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said on June 15.
“I do not know the exact number and the specific mission. They are allowed to carry rifles for self-defense. But they are not allowed to fight. They only provide support,” he added.
Earlier, the AFP said that the US was providing technical assistance to the Filipino troops, but clarified that it had no boots on the ground.
We also found another false claim in states-tv’s article when it said that the US embassy stated that it was President Duterte who requested the American soldiers’ assistance.
What the US embassy spokesperson Molly Koscina actually said is that the help was requested by the Philippine government, not specifically the President.
“At the request of the government of the Philippines, US special operation forces are assisting the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) with ongoing operations in Marawi. The US non-combat support helps AFP commanders on the ground in their fight against Maute arnd ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) militants,” Koscina told the Philippine Star via email in the evening of June 9.
Meme Buster also looked for other states-tv.com articles and found a few more fake ones. We even busted that article about the new French president allegedly vowing to do a Duterte.
Aside from making this fake claim about the American troops being told to leave the Philippines, the fake news site is also fond of making outrageous claims that certain countries are to become US territories.
If you find any other article from states-tv.com, make sure to verify it first before reacting and telling your social media friends about it.
Sources: ( reuters.com , inquirer.net , news.abs-cbn.com , gmanetwork.com , philstar.com )
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