CLAIM: Personalities Romeo “Dagul” Pastrana, Efren “Bata” Reyes, Kim Atienza and Jessica Soho have died.
RATING: FALSE
A Tiktok page posing as GMA News has repeatedly made false reports claiming that various celebrities and media personalities have passed away.
Under the handle @gmanewsbalita, the Tiktok account has amassed thousands in engagements by posting fake death notices about personalities including former comedian Romeo “Dagul” Pastrana, billiards icon Efren “Bata” Reyes, news presenter Kim Atienza, and veteran journalist Jessica Soho.
GMA News presenter Kim Atienza, in an Instagram post, dismissed the claim by posting a screenshot of the fake report with the word “HOAX” written across it. He captioned his post “Nope, not today.”
The family of billiards icon Efren “Bata” Reyes has also denied reports of his supposed passing.
In a Facebook post, Reyes’ daughter in law Mary Hope Muñoz said that the billiards legend was in the United States for a tournament and was set to come home this week.
The account has 17,000 followers and has amassed 183,400 likes as of this writing.
It also uses “GMA🔹” as its account name, incorporating a blue diamond emoji to fool unsuspecting users into thinking that it is an official account. Nikko Balbedina
PressOne.PH is a verified signatory of the Code of Principles of the International Fact -Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter. The code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network is a series of commitments organizations abide by to promote excellence in fact-checking. We believe nonpartisan and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument of accountability journalism..
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 factcheck@pressone.ph.
If you believe PressOne.PH is violating the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), you may submit a complaint directly to the IFCN website: https://ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/complaints-policy
Supertyphoon ‘Ada’ not within Philippine Area of Responsibility on Jan. 5 and 6
An AI-generated video circulating on Facebook falsely claimed that classes in the Philippines were suspended on Jan. 5 and 6 due to a supertyphoon named “Ada” that had entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
FACT-CHECK: Video falsely claims Rep. Faustino Dy III removed as House speaker
YouTube account “NEWS UPDATE FILES” falsely claimed that Batangas first district representative Leandro Leviste had been elected speaker of the House of Representatives, replacing Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III.
FACT-CHECK: Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa was not apprehended at the airport
A YouTube video uploaded by the channel “VIRAL BROADCAST PH” falsely claimed that Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa had been arrested by the international police inside the Manila airport.
