AFP fact-checks Mar Roxas ‘drinking from plate’ photo
MANILA, Philippines — The revived photo of Otso Diretso opposition senatorial bet Mar Roxas drinking water from a plate was “not genuine” and “manipulated,” fact-checking by Agence France-Presse (AFP) has revealed.
The French news agency said the altered photo of the 2016 presidential candidate recently resurfaced online to “mock” Roxas ahead of the 90-day campaign period for the 2019 midterm elections.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=940872962674634&set=gm.1698454853700550&type=3&theater&ifg=1
But the original photo, posted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Twitter account in April 2015, showed then-DILG Sec. Roxas crouching beside a faucet not holding any plate.
“Sec. @MARoxas enjoys safe and potable water that the residents of Camalig, Albay now also enjoy through SALINTUBIG,” the caption reads.
Sec. @MARoxas enjoys safe and potable water that the residents of Camalig, Albay now also enjoy through SALINTUBIG. pic.twitter.com/zZi4sCFaeM
— DILG Official (@Official_DILG) April 24, 2015
The Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat Program (SALINTUBIG) is a government program for clean access to water.
Article continues after this advertisementThe photo can also be seen in a 2015 article posted on the website of the Official Gazette of the Philippine government, according to the AFP.
“The original photo and the altered photo contain same key details that prove the manipulation. These include two men standing at the back, and a white shoe on the right of the image. Roxas’s right hand on the gold-coloured tap is also in exactly the same position,” it added.
As early as 2016, the viral photo had already been debunked as fake by Roxas’ camp as well as several blogs supporting him.
In a January 2016 Inquirer report, Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez dismissed pictures circulating on the internet showing Roxas drinking water from a plate, using a cup to eat rice and directing traffic at an intersection. Gutierrez reportedly said these “were nothing” compared to the issues of his presidential rivals.
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AFP said the other photo of Roxas eating rice from a cup that has often accompanied the doctored image could be traced back to when Roxas visited the radio station of Aksyon Radio in the western province of Iloilo in November 2015.
AFP cited a blog explaining the photo of Roxas eating rice from a cup. The blog post indicated that Roxas was eating a laswa– “a vegetable soup dish that is typically served with rice”– from a cup because there was no available bowl in the radio station.
“In Iloilo, it’s typically served with rice. Since there was no bowl in the station, Aksyon Radyo Iloilo provided him a mug. Mar simply used what was available and served himself,” the post reads. /muf
