SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Claim: Queen Elizabeth II praised President Rodrigo Duterte and said that the Philippines has the worst citizens, according to a graphic that went viral on Facebook.
“Pres. Duterte is the kind of leader who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Filipinos are very fortunate to have him. Seriously, he looked so overworked. He may not be perfect, but he truly loves his country. Philippines doesn’t have the worst government. It actually has the worst citizens,” the graphic quoted Queen Elizabeth II as saying.
The graphic was dated April 6, 2020. A brief description below the statement said the quote came from the Queen’s speech that day as she delivered “a message of hope amid the coronavirus pandemic.”
Several readers emailed the graphic to Rappler for verification. Claim Check, Facebook’s monitoring tool that identifies potentially dubious posts on the platform, flagged multiple posts from different pages and accounts. The earliest post was shared on April 6.
Rating: FALSE
The facts: Queen Elizabeth II did not issue such a statement – or even close to it.
The Queen addressed the United Kingdom amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 6, but there was no mention of Duterte in her speech. The full broadcast of her address can be found here.
Moreover, the graphic quoting Queen Elizabeth II praising Duterte was altered from Inquirer.net’s quote card. The media outfit posted the original quote card on its verified Facebook account on April 6.
The original quote of Queen Elizabeth from Inquirer.net’s graphic was: “This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal… We will succeed – and that success will belong to every one of us.
Inquirer.net also posted another update on April 7, saying that their quote card was “manipulated.”
Fake quotes have been a common type of disinformation spread during the coronavirus pandemic. Other personalities that became a victim of this were Senator Kiko Pangilinan, Vice President Leni Robredo, and Senator Risa Hontiveros.
Rappler has debunked other false claims in the past involving the Queen.
In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II was falsely quoted as saying that Donald Trump should follow Duterte’s footsteps. In 2019, we also debunked a fake letter from Jovito Salonga to former President Corazon Aquino that was supposedly signed by the Queen. – 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.
More fact checks on COVID-19:
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- FALSE: Globe gives free P500 load to every user
- FALSE: SSS ‘approves P20,000 aid for every member’ due to coronavirus
- FALSE: Sara Duterte says ‘blame LGUs’ for slow disbursement of P200B
- FALSE: Video clip showing dead bodies of coronavirus patients in Italy
- FALSE: Over 200 doctors die daily in Italy due to coronavirus
- FALSE: Medical City, private hospitals ‘raided’ for PPE donations
- PARTLY FALSE: Coronavirus ‘did not reach’ Beijing, Shanghai, Russia, North Korea
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