A screenshot of the social media card with the photo and fake quote of former chief justice Artemio Panganiban

CLAIM: Former chief justice Artemio Panganiban urged the public to stop being anti-Bongbong Marcos.

RATING: FALSE

Ex-chief justice Artemio Panganiban did not douse cold water on critics of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as a social media card bearing the retired magistrate’s supposed statement claims.

The supposed quote reads as follows:

“Huwag po pairalin ang inyong pagka-Anti Marcos. Si BBM po ay nahatulan ng Regional Trial Court (RTC) ng Tax Evasion pero binaliktad ng Court of Appeals (CA) and (sic) ng RTC, kaya nawalang saysay ang decision ng RTC.  Hindi po nagsinungaling si BBM sa kanyang COC nang sabihing hindi siya convicted of crime involving moral turpitude kasi nga po binasura ng CA ang ruling ng RTC!”

While the other claims in the post are worth fact-checking, we decided not to bother with them because our investigation found that the former chief magistrate never made the statement.  There are no available articles or audio and video recordings of Panganiban making this statement.

This quote, which has been shared more than 1,000 times on Twitter, is made up and is therefore rated FALSE.

In fact, Panganiban wrote in his Jan. 30 column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Marcos Jr.’s answer of “No” in Item No. 22 of his Certificate of Candidacy is “false.” Panganiban said Marcos Jr. was convicted of a crime for failing to file tax returns, which carried “the accessory penalty of disqualification from holding a public office.” 

“I also think that BBM cannot be said to be unaware of the consequences of the offense he was convicted of because, to quote the Civil Code, “Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.” And to use a maxim familiar to law students, Ignorantia juris neminem excusat,” the former chief justice concluded. 

The column doesn’t sound like Panganiban is supporting Marcos Jr. in any way—an obvious debunking of the fictional quote being shared among supporters of the presidential candidate. Rommel F. Lopez

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