HOAX: Fiscal in viral road altercation video ‘shot dead’

Claim: Christine Estepa, the prosecutor who was caught on tape arguing with traffic enforcers over an illegal parking violation, has been shot dead in their house in Caloocan. Her husband is supposedly in critical condition.

The blog trendingnewsonline.info in its undated August post ran the headline, “Mainit: Piskal na nakasagutan ng MMDA, tigok matapos ratratin sa tapat ng kanyang bahay sa Caloocan. Asawa nito, agaw buhay!” (Breaking: Fiscal in MMDA road argument shot dead in her house in Caloocan. Husband in critical condition!)

The claim was also posted by napankamkumametbeewan.info.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Estepa is still alive. There was no such shooting.

The video embedded in the hoax article is a May 2017 GMA News report about Diosdado Azarcon, a different state prosecutor shot dead outside her house in Caloocan.

The video will play for a few seconds, then a pop-up of an age restriction warning and a Facebook share button will appear, prompting the user to share the video first before watching the rest of it.

The site also has no permanent links to content. Similarly constructed dubious sites usually carry a death hoax of a particular personality, then tend to change its content later to run another death hoax.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Prosecutor Estepa was caught on video arguing with a Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) official initially over an illegal parking violation on Tuesday, August 14. Estepa repeatedly asked for her 5-minute “grace period” during the argument. Her husband, Macky Estepa, later arrived at the scene.

The following day, the MMDA asked the Land Transportation Office to revoke Christine’s license. The couple issued a public apology on the same day.

MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia announced on August 16 they will file an administrative complaint against Christine. – Miguel Imperial/Rappler.com

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