FACT CHECK: Photos Of Isko Moreno With Bongbong Marcos Being Spread On Social Media Need Context

CLAIM: A photo of presidential candidate Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and his rival Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. made the rounds online following Moreno’s press conference with other bets for the country’s highest position – Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales on Easter Sunday, April 17.

The photo was one of those posted by Iloilo-based news outlet The Daily Guardian on its Facebook page on Feb. 9, 2021, showed Moreno with Marcos eating together at a restaurant.

The photos were shared by civic media page Now You Know on its Facebook page on the same date.

Both posts were reuploaded online after Moreno, Lacson and Gonzales faced the media on April 17 and criticized Vice President Leni Robredo for allegedly asking them to withdraw from the presidential race.

Moreno dared Robredo to make the supreme sacrifice and be the one to back out from the election while Gonzales called her an ineffective “second placer” against frontrunner Marcos based on pre-election surveys.

The photos were captioned, “What’s cooking?” as it quoted another group, Filipino Freethinkers, as saying in a deleted post that Moreno was “plotting” to “remove Leni” with Marcos.

The photos proliferated in the comments section of social media platforms after Moreno’s harsh words against Robredo during the Easter Sunday briefing.

RATING: Needs context

FACTS: The posts that recirculated were old but were used to show that Moreno could be in cahoots with Marcos to undermine Robredo.

In an ambush interview with reporters in Surigao City on April 18, Moreno explained he graced the opening of a restaurant in Manila in February 2021 and officiated a surprise wedding of the owners that was attended by Marcos.

“It’s a public gathering, I’m a mayor. I’m happy that one businessman invested in the city sa naluging restaurant they called Emerald Restaurant. Ako nag-cut ng ribbon,” Moreno said.

“Tapos, nagkasal ako. Kinasal ko ‘yung may-ari, kasi, supposed to be a surprise sa kanyang long-term partner. For the first time, they decided to get married,” he added.

The mayor outrightly blamed Robredo’s supporters for making the photo viral.

Why it matters:

Pinoy Ako Blog’s Jover Laurio, who has over 380,000 followers on Facebook and is a known Robredo supporter, posted Moreno’s photo with Marcos on Facebook with the caption,

“Ah kaya pala.”

Laurio’s April 17 post generated over 19,000 reactions, 4,600 comments, and 4,900 shares on Facebook.

Political analyst and University of the Philippines Department of Political Science professor Jean Encinas Franco told “Agenda” on One News on Tuesday, April 19, that the press conference of Moreno, Lacson and Gonzales fueled speculations that they were Marcos’ Trojan horses since they also did not agree to unite under one opposition banner.

Moreno and Lacson have blamed Robredo for the failure of the opposition’s unity talks, but the Vice President said there were issues they could really not agree on.

Netizens also wondered why the three men decided to attack Robredo when during elections, the frontrunner is usually the one who gets targeted to stop him or her from winning.

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