FACT-CHECK: Ex-lawmaker mistaken for Mar Roxas in photo with Bongbong Marcos

Dec 18, 2021 | Fact Checked by PressOnePH

Former broadcaster Jay Sonza mistook ex-congressman Anton Lagdameo Jr. for former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

CLAIM: Former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II is supporting presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., as shown by a recent photo of the two together.

 

RATING: FALSE

Ex-broadcaster Jay Sonza erroneously claimed in a tweet on Dec. 16, 2021 that former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II had thrown his support behind Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., offering a supposed photo of the two together as proof. The same photo was posted on Facebook by user “Duke Rhan” a day earlier.

But the person with Marcos was not Roxas, a stalwart of the opposition Liberal Party. It’s former Davao del Norte representative Anton Floirendo Lagdameo Jr., Marcos’s friend and supporter.

No less than the pilot of the flight that brought Marcos to Davao City last Nov. 21, who goes by the Facebook handle “Ang Joshua,” identified Lagdameo in a video and a group photo posted publicly on his personal account.

In his erroneous tweet, Sonza claimed that Roxas had become a red-shirt wearing supporter of Marcos, not of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo or Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. Sonza argued that this was because Roxas and Marcos’s wife, Louise Araneta-Marcos, were relatives. Roxas is a member of the Araneta clan.

Twitter users pointed out to Sonza that the person he had claimed was Mar Roxas looked different, with some sending him screenshots of the photo posted by “Ang Joshua” on Facebook.

Roxas ran for president in 2016 under the Liberal Party, with Robredo as running mate. Roxas lost to Rodrigo Duterte but Robredo defeated Marcos in the vice-presidential contest. The 2022 presidential race is emerging as a rematch between the two.

This fact-check was produced by PressOne.PH as part of a fact-checking grant from the Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator (PFCI) Project. The PFCI supports news organizations to allow them to meet global fact-checking standards under the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. 

PressOne.PH believes that fact-checking is essential to combating misinformation and disinformation, and in informing and educating citizens and voters. Read more of PressOne.PH’s Fact-Checking Policy by clicking here.

The public is welcome to send feedback or requests for fact-checks at news@pressone.ph.