FALSE: Male OFW ‘raped, mutilated by 9 Saudi Arabians’

Claim: A supposed male overseas Filipino worker was allegedly raped and mutilated by 9 Saudi Arabians.

In its post released on Thursday, August 1, viralpro.net claimed in its blog post’s title that the male worker’s genitals were cut off after 9 Saudi Arabians raped him.

The title of the post read, “Lalaking OFW Ginahasa ng 9 na Arabo at Pinutulan pa ng Ari.”  (9 Arabs raped male OFW and mutilated his genitals after.)

A 48-second YouTube video clip was embedded in the post. It showed a GMA News report on the alleged gruesome fate of the male rape victim.   

The claim was spotted in a social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle. Facebook pages such as Paolo Pulong Duterte, WBP We Blog Ph, and Unofficial: PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa shared the post, which has accumulated over 800 total interactions combined. 

Rating: FALSE

The facts: The claim is a rape hoax that had circulated in the past. The GMA News video in the article was about a different man’s genital mutilation done by his wife after a marital fight in Pasay City in 2013. It did not mention any OFWs. (READ: CONVERSATION: The plight of #OFWomen)

The thumbnail used in the embedded video was also false. It was taken from a portion of a GMA News YouTube video posted on July 6, 2018. The image showed a photo of a Filipino worker who fell into a coma after being battered by an unidentified Arab youth in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Vera Files had also fact-checked the claim in September 2018.

This is the second time that Rappler fact-checked a claim from viralpro.net. In December 2018, it circulated a hoax that claimed the Miss Universe Organization banned mixed ethnicity Filipinos from joining the competition. – Glenda Marie Castro/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.