FALSE: Pangilinan says gov’t should ‘exempt children from total lockdown’

Rappler.com

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FALSE: Pangilinan says gov’t should ‘exempt children from total lockdown’
The senator did not say the quote attributed to him

Claim: Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan wants children to be exempted from the lockdown.

A viral graphic quoted Pangilinan as saying: “I call on the government to exempt childrens from total lockdown. The safety measures is depriving the children to explore their capacity to percieve the world. I think these is the area I want the government to consider.”

The graphic had News5’s logo and social media account handles on it. It was dated March 19, 2020.

A reader sent the graphic to Rappler’s email for verification. Claim Check, Facebook’s monitoring tool, also spotted at least 22 users on Facebook that posted the graphic. The earliest was shared on March 19.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Pangilinan did not say the quote attributed to him. News5 also said the graphic did not come from any of their official social media accounts.

In a post on its verified Facebook account, News5 said the viral graphic is “fake.”

On March 19, News5 posted on its official social media accounts a quote card of Pangilinan where he suggested the mobilization of the reserve force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to assist in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. There was no mention of children in the original quote.

Pangilinan further refuted the claim in a post on his verified Facebook account and urged people to be critical of fake quotes.

Rappler also reached out to the Facebook page that shared the earliest post available online to ask for its source, but the page did not respond.

Pangilinan is not the first politician targeted by fake quotes about the coronavirus crisis. Other personalities that became victims of fake quotes were Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Risa Hontiveros. – Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time

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