FACT-CHECK: Duterte did not wish that his supporters would die with him

CLAIM: Former president Rodrigo Duterte supposedly said, “Kapag namatay ako, dapat, magpakamatay na kayong mga sumusuporta sa akin para mapatunayan ninyong sumusuporta talaga kayo sa akin at maituring kayong mga bayani na namatay para sa bayan.”

RATING: FALSE

A tweet by Ronnie Tuason on X (formerly Twitter) on Nov. 10 altered an old statement from former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Tuason featured a photo of Duterte with an altered quote carrying the date March 12, 2020: “Kapag namatay ako, dapat, magpakamatay na kayong mga sumusuporta sa akin para mapatunayan ninyong sumusuporta talaga kayo sa akin at maituring kayong mga bayani na namatay para sa bayan.”

(When I die, you should commit suicide, all of you who support me, to prove that you truly support me and be considered heroes who died for the country.)

The caption also suggested that die-hard fanatics of “Kanor” (a pejorative nickname used by some netizens to refer to Duterte) might interpret this as an opportunity to volunteer and become heroes.

There were no indications of the post being satirical or humorous. A logo of television network TV5 was partly cropped at the upper left-hand corner.

The original statement came from a  March 12, 2020 video posted on the RTVMalacanang YouTube channel, where Duterte actually said, “May mga tao kasi na magsabi, ‘A, wala ‘yan kung patay ka, patay.’ Tama. Pero kung patay, patay ka rin talaga, wala rin tayong magawa. So kawawa naman ang nanay pati tatay ninyo. So better just stay within the premises of the house.”

[Some people might say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter if you’re dead, you’re dead.’ Correct. But if you’re dead, you’re really dead, and we can’t do anything about it. So, your mothers and fathers will be pitiful. So better just stay within the premises of the house.]

The websites of Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) also showed that only relevant policies and statements on Covid-19 were announced by Malacañang on that day, and there was no statement from Duterte suggesting in any way that his supporters should commit suicide. — Nicaflor Baltazar

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Nicaflor Baltazar is a Journalism student from the University of Santo Tomas and an intern for PressOnePH. This piece was created under the supervision of PressOnePH’s editors.