Posts misrepresent Philippine vice president's election rally footage
She can be heard saying, "I need to mention your congressman here in this district. He is an example of how we vote automatically for those who are popular, endorsed by someone popular, came from a family of politicians or [as I said earlier] 'that's a Duterte, let's vote for that person'."
"You know that congressman of yours? That Joel Chua?"
The crowd reacts and shouts a name repeatedly.
Image
Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken on May 7, 2025
Chua led the House of Representatives committee that Duterte's alleged misuse of millions of dollars in public funds, one of the accusations that led to her impeachment in February (archived link).
He is also a member of the prosecution in the vice president's forthcoming Senate trial that could remove her from office and bar her from future government posts (archived link).
Chua will run against two other candidates -- Ramon Morales and Johanna Nieto -- in Manila's third district in the mid-term elections.
The relationship between Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos is at a nadir, their former alliance giving way to a months-long public battle that has seen wild accusations traded, including an alleged plot to assassinate Marcos, the first lady, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (archived link).
on TikTok and on Instagram.
But the crowd did not chant Marcos's name.
A review of a three-hour footage of the election rally streamed live by local news organisation Rappler shows Duterte enumerating how Filipinos should choose the most qualified candidate (archived link).
At the video's 3:13:58 mark, Duterte can be heard saying the same words in the circulating clip, then the crowd can be heard shouting "Apple, Apple, Apple."
The Commission on Elections's database of candidates for the mid-terms shows "Apple" is Nieto's name, who is backed by Duterte and is gunning for Chua's current post as district representative (archived link).
She, along with other local candidates, can be seen onstage while Duterte was speaking.
Rappler's livestream shows the crowd as it shouts beginning at the 3:14:50 mark, and people can be seen mouthing "Apple", not "Marcos".
A different angle of the interaction, streamed live by another local candidate from behind Duterte, also shows the crowd chanting Nieto's nickname at the clip's 7:26 mark (archived link).
Later, towards the end of Duterte's speech, at the Rappler livestream's 3:45:51 mark, Duterte called Nieto to her side. The vice president handed her an apple and told her to "shove [the fruit] down Chua's throat until he chokes to death."
Other local news outlets covered this campaign rally, as well as Duterte's criticism of Chua (archived here and here).
Fact-check organisation Vera Files has also debunked the claim.
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