The site of the Marcos-Duterte rally in Cebu can only accommodate about 150,000 people
CLAIM: Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia claims that the venue for UniTeam’s Grand political rally can accommodate 300,000.
RATING: FALSE
Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia, an ally of the Marcos-Duterte tandem, claimed that the UniTeam Festival Rally in Cebu City on April 18 drew 300,000 supporters.
“Do the math, the rally site at Filinvest Development Corp. on South Road Properties in Cebu City is a 30-hectare lot and one hectare is 10,000 sq.m. Multiply 30 by 10,000 equals 300,000 at least, if we are to give an allowance of one sq.m. per person. Period,” said Garcia, as quoted by a SunStar Cebu article.
Cebu-based news outlets The Freeman Newspaper and CDN Digital quoted local police making the same crowd estimate.
This claim is FALSE.
The Citi De Mare, Filinvest Grounds, venue of the UniTeam’s sortie, covered 2.9974 hectares or 299,974 sq.m. and not the full 30-hectare (ha.) property of Filinvest as falsely claimed by Garcia.
Pro-BBM-Sara supporters are also circulating screengrabs of a bigger Filinvest lot estimated to be around 6.5515 ha., which can accommodate over 300,000 people.
However, this is a lot adjacent to the site of the UniTeam rally and therefore not the actual site of the rally.
Even with a packed crowd estimated at five people per square foot, the actual venue can only accommodate 149,869, based on the crowd size estimating tool Mapchecking.com,
Other netizens also chimed in and found Garcia’s claim false as the property cannot hold 300,000 people.
A drone shot of the event, with its brightness is adjusted, revealed that the entire lot was not occupied to capacity as claimed by Garcia and local police officials.
– Ryan Christopher J. Sorote
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.
FACT CHECK: YouTube channel falsely claims Marcos Sr. declared Filipinos as co-owners and co-beneficiaries of his wealth
The late dictator entrusted all of his properties only to his wife and his children.
FACT-CHECK: Video falsely claims PH so rich during Marcos regime no one slept on streets
In a TikTok video, a man talks about the country’s economy during the Marcos Sr. regime, repeating the “golden age” claim that had already been debunked by fact-checking sites.
FACT CHECK: Duterte makes wrong claim on how confi, intel funds were spent
Former president Rodrigo Duterte falsely claimed in his TV program on SMNI that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not spend P125 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF).