Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez thought that Rappler originated the story that fact-checked his claim that Bongbong Marcos was the only presidential candidate who helped Ormoc City in times of calamities.
CLAIM: Rappler wrote the fact-check story to Mayor Richard Gomez’s claim that no presidential candidate helped Ormoc City except Bongbong Marcos
RATING: FALSE
Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez thought that Rappler wrote the story that fact-checked his claim that Bongbong Marcos was the only presidential candidate who helped Ormoc City in times of calamities.
In a video by YouTube channel “SHOWBIZ CHIKA-DORO,” Gomez doubled down on his claim that Marcos was the only politician who helped Ormoc during disasters and difficult times. He said in the video:
“Well si Bongbong during those times he was here to help as although wala kayo nakita na nagawa sa- na nilabas ng Rappler na fact-check daw sila,” he said.
The actor-turned-politician mentioned Rappler five times in the video. His other mentions of Rappler as the publisher of the fact-check story are as follows:
- “Tama yung sinabi dito na December 2013, tama sinabi ng Inquirer, fact-check ng Rappler, tama yung date.”
- “So, that Rappler will know, ang nagdala ng pera dito na 1.5 is not Manny’s [Pacquiao] money.”
- “So, ayon ‘yung fact-check, hindi kayo nag fact-check sa totoong records namin dito. I’ll show you so that Rappler will know.”
- “So maraming salamat po, pero kung para pang Fact-check ng Rappler.”
Gomez’s claim that Rappler originally published the fact-check story is FALSE.
The story Gomez was referring to was published on Feb. 3 on PressONE.PH, which is a member of the fact-checking coalition #FactsFirstPH. One of the commitments of organizations belonging to the #FactsFirstPH initiative is to share the fact-check stories produced by fact-checkers. Rappler is one of the organizations under the #FactsFirstPH coalition that shared in their social media channels the fact-check story of PressONE.PH.
Did Gomez actually read the PressONE.PH article? That we cannot fact check.
But PressONE.PH did fact-check his claims in the video where he doubled down on his debunked claim that no other presidential candidate in the 2022 elections had helped Ormoc City during “disasters and calamities” except for former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
And we can ascertain that his claim that Rappler originally published the story that rated his earlier claim that Marcos, Jr. is the only presidential candidate who helped Ormoc in times of need, is false, is also rated FALSE. – Rommel F. Lopez
PressOne.PH is part of #FactsFirstPH which brings together various sectors that are committed to promoting truth in the public space, and exacting accountability on those who harm it with lies. For those interested to join the initiative, email info@factsfirst.ph
PressOne.PH has adopted Facebook’s ratings options for third-party fact checkers and is working toward accreditation with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). See our fact-checking policy here.
