FACT CHECK: ‘Duterte!’ chants fabricated in video of Pope Francis’ East Timor visit
Claim: A huge crowd is shown in a video chanting “Duterte!”
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The claim can be found on a Facebook video posted on September 13 by user Antoniano Evelyn. Throughout the video, chants of “Duterte!” purportedly from the crowd can be heard, along with some narration stating that the chants were in support of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The post states that the crowd consists of Duterte supporters: “Tumayo mga balahibo ko ngaun lang. Ang mula noon lalong dumami kacing dami ng buhangin wow! Nakakataba ng puso gravi nakakaiyak malula ka sa saya wala ng tatalo pa. Dutertes supporters. Hindi binalita ng mga bayarang mainstream media.”
(I had goosebumps just now. [The supporters before] have increased even more, as numerous as sand wow! This is heartwarming, it makes me cry, you will be overjoyed. Nothing can beat it. Duterte’s supporters. This was not reported by corrupt mainstream media.)
As of writing, the post already has around 4 million plays, 54,000 reactions, and 4,400 shares.
The facts: The chants of “Duterte!” in the video are fabricated.
The original version of the video shows a huge crowd following Pope Francis’ celebration of Holy Mass on September 10 during his visit to East Timor, one of the stops in his 12-day tour of Asia. An estimated 600,000 people gathered at Tasitolu Park in one of the largest turnouts as a proportion to a country’s population for a papal event. (LIVE UPDATES: Pope Francis tours Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Singapore)
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In a video uploaded on September 11 by the YouTube channel “Aldy Reis,” the same footage is shown but does not include the “Duterte!” chants. This video has no added audio other than the natural sound of the surroundings. Another video was uploaded on September 11 on TikTok by user rey.marques with music added.
Pope Francis left for Rome on September 13 after his tour of Asia.
Previous related fact-checks: Rappler has fact-checked numerous claims regarding Pope Francis, his activities, and his statements several times before, with some even from 2020 or earlier. (READ: [WATCH] ’Yung Totoo?: 5 fact check tungkol kay Pope Francis). – Percival Bueser/ Rappler.com
Percival Bueser is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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