How Queen Elizabeth’s popularity was used in PH’s ‘fake news’ epidemic
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—As Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday (Sept. 8), thousands of people from all over the world have extended condolences over her death, with the Pope saying that she lived a life of service.
READ: Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, dies aged 96
In London, thousands gathered outside the Buckingham Palace while singing “God Save the Queen” as they expressed their sadness over the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
If the stream of grief is any indication, the Queen, indeed, was great in her role as monarch, which she held for seven decades. She was crowned on June 2, 1953—14 months after she ascended to the throne.
READ: Timeline: The life of Queen Elizabeth
Ipsos, a company which specializes on market research and public opinion, said that despite the “royal rifts” in 2019, the Queen’s approval rating has remained strong in 2020, with 81 percent saying that they are satisfied with the way she is doing her job.
GRAPHIC Kurt Dela Peña
A Vox article stressed that in Elizabeth II’s reign, Britain’s monarchy “didn’t only survive. It continued to be downright popular—and so was she”.
READ: Queen Elizabeth’s connection to PH, Filipinos
It said the high regard for her comes from a source that can feel somewhat remarkable: “She has been beloved for decades not for a sparkling charisma or great rhetorical flair, but for her steadfast and superhuman ability to give absolutely nothing away.”
READ: Queen Elizabeth’s death: Reaction from world leaders
This was possibly the reason that in the Philippines, which is more than 11,000 kilometers away from London, Elizabeth II had not been spared by people spreading “fake news”. INQUIRER.net looks back at some of these.
- ‘Duterte is great leader’
In 2020, a graphic that went viral on Facebook quoted Elizabeth II as saying that then President Rodrigo Duterte “is the kind of leader who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way” and that “Filipinos are very fortunate to have him”. It was fake.
INQUIRER.net stressed that the quote card of the fakery was “manipulated,” saying that after it shared an excerpt from Elizabeth II’s address to the United Kingdom, “the post was manipulated to say that Duterte looked “overworked” and that the “Philippines doesn’t have the worst government, it actually has the worst citizens”.
- ‘Bilib pa rin kay Duterte’
On July 8, 2021, Vera Files fact-checked a video posted by Showbiz Fanaticz on Youtube. The video claimed that the Queen expressed admiration for the Duterte administration.
“This is false,” Vera Files said, saying that a statement from Elizabeth II in 2021, which commended the commitment of Filipino nurses in Britain, “did not carry any praise for Duterte”.
What the Queen said then was this: “Our ties of friendship and affection are as important today as 75 years ago. We are fortunate to have many nurses from the Philippines in the National Health Service.”
- ‘Follow Duterte’s steps, Trump’
In 2017, bayangpilipinas.com claimed that Elizabeth II advised then American President Donald Trump to follow Duterte’s steps.
This was likewise fact-checked by Rappler, saying that the post, which claimed that the Queen made the statement in a speech regarding the secession crisis in Catalonia, Spain, is false.
It said that while the post included as source telegraph-tv.com to “mimic” The Telegraph, there were no new reports from credible news sources which backs the said claim.
- The Queen congratulates BBM
Last May, several Facebook pages published a statement attributed to Elizabeth II, where she was said to have congratulated then presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for winning the elections.
The alleged statement, which was dated May 11, 2021, read: “Today, I wear red to express my congratulations to the Philippines’ President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. I know that he is a good leader. Unfortunately, the oligarchs are destroying his name, and the netizens just keep complaining. Therefore, I can say, Philippines doesn’t have the worse (sic) governance. It has the worst citizens.”
Vera Files said the posts were satire, stressing that the Queen never issued such a statement, whether in May 2021, or after the release of partial and unofficial vote tallies for the 2022 elections.
“The official website of the British monarchy states the Queen must remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters, including sending congratulatory messages to newly-elected heads of state,” it said.
