FACT-CHECK: Marcos Jr., Sara Duterte not driven away from Traslacion 2026

Jan 9, 2026 | Church, Fact Checked by PressOnePH, Featured, Highlight

CLAIM: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte were driven away from the Traslacion procession. 

 

RATING: FALSE

 

 

A viral YouTube livestream by channel “BYAHE NI KOY TV” broadcast on Jan. 9 falsely claimed that Balanga Bishop Rufino Sescon drove away President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte during his homily for the Misa Mayor of this year’s celebration of the Feast of Jesus Nazareno.

Flagged Content:  A YouTube  livestream  titled “HETO NA PBBM SARA TINABOY SA GITNA NG NAZARENO IMEE NI RESBAKAN SA SENADO PANOORIN” (“Finally PBBM [Marcos Jr.] and Sara [Duterte] were driven away during the Nazareno, Imee retaliates in the senate, watch”) was broadcast as the Traslacion 2026 procession was underway.                                                                                                                                                                

  • The post included hashtags: #LOYALISTA, #PBBM, #LOYALISTA, #DDS, #BONGBONGMARCOS and #PBBM.

Our debunk: Sescon did not mention Marcos Jr. and Duterte in his homily.

  • While his homily did have political undertones, he did not explicitly direct any of his statements to any particular government official.
  • On Jan. 8, the Presidential Communications Office published a message from the president wishing the Catholic faithful a “safe, solemn and meaningful observance” of the Nazarene feast. There have been no reports of him attending any related celebration as of writing.
  • Duterte also uploaded a video message for the devotees of Jesus Nazareno on her Facebook page but has, likewise, not been reported to have attended any related events.

Why we fact-checked this: As of writing, the YouTube livestream has drawn more than a thousand likes, 982 comments and 2,566 shares.

Spot the fake: This video is one of hundreds documented by PressOne.PH that mimic the conventions of breaking news reports to spread disinformation more effectively. This “news-cycle disinformation” often features these characteristics:

  • These videos misleadingly use “BREAKING” labels and TV-style chyrons to mimic legitimate news organizations. 
  • They exploit unfolding events by claiming fake “endpoints” such as arrests, deaths or case dismissals during lulls in official reporting.
  • Many clips rely on AI-generated voiceovers  and images as well as repurposed publicly available footage to create a false sense of urgency or novelty to mask falsehoods. Rebecca Soto & Rhei Hernandez


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