HOAX: Bam Aquino’s ‘quote’ on Boracay rehabilitation

Claim: A quote about Boracay after its rehabilitation was attributed to Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV.

The full quote reads:

Ngayon dahil napaganda na natin ang boracay, sana matuto na tayo, alagaan natin ang kalikasan, wag abusuhin dahil para din yan sa atin at sa susunod na henerasyon.

Facebook page “The Daily Sentry” posted the claim on October 14.” The post garnered at least 2,600 reactions, 2,400 comments, and 1,746 shares as of October 22.

Facebook pages “magTXT” and “Pinoy Trending” also posted the claim.

The claim was flagged via Facebook’s Claim Check Dashboard. This was also by sent by readers.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: There is no such quote from Senator Aquino.

“Senator Bam has not said or released any comment on the Boracay rehabilitation in the past month,” said Media Relations Officer Nicco Atos.

The office of Senator Aquino also said that they had “no hand” in the rehabilitation. “It is best to thank the government agencies involved and the locals  who had to sacrifice their livelihood to make it happen.”

A Google image search of the quote leads to Facebook pages that have shared the meme. There are also no news reports containing the quote.

Aquino said on April 25 that the government should not “burden” Filipinos with the closure if there is no “clear plan” yet for “small businesses and freelancers.” The senator, an advocate for small and medium enterprises, is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 10644 or the Go Negosyo Act.

There was also another claim related to the Boracay rehabilitation. This time, a Facebook post supposedly posted by Aquino on October 17 “credit-grabbing” the success of the rehabilitation. The post was also shared by updatedtayo.info and band.netviral.com.

The senator said on Facebook that they did not post the “fake” post and caption.

This is not the first time the senator has been attributed to a false quote.

In June, the senator supposedly said that he will “provide monthly allowance and benefits” to loiterers or tambays.

In October, the senator supposedly said that Filipinos should be “thankful” of pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Pasteur for “experimenting” the “adverse effects” of the Dengvaxia vaccine.

Aquino is running for reelection as senator in the 2019 national elections. — Miguel Imperial/Rappler.com

If you suspect a Facebook page, group, account, a website, or an article is spreading false information, let Rappler know by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.