FALSE: Chel Diokno wants taxi, jeepney drivers to wear helmets

At a glance

• Claim: Senatorial aspirant and lawyer Chel Diokno said that requiring taxi and jeepney drivers to wear helmets will protect them on the road.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: The claim has no basis and was denied by Diokno himself in the comments. The page that shared it reiterated that they are satirical in nature.
• Why we fact-checked this: The post by Abente on FB has gained over 1,300 interactions, 1,000 shares, and 599 comments, as of writing.

Complete details

“Abente,” which identifies itself as a satirical Facebook page, published a post on Friday, October 22, regarding senatorial aspirant and lawyer Chel Diokno’s supposed desire to propose a law requiring taxi and jeepney drivers to wear helmets.

The caption on the post allegedly quotes Diokno as saying, “Helmet sa taxi at jeepney drivers ang solusyon para sa ligtas na biyahe, para kung makalimutan nilang mag seatbelt ay ligtas pa din sila.”

(Helmets for taxi and jeepney drivers are the solution to road safety because, should they ever forget to wear their seatbelts, they will still be protected.)

The caption of the post says that Vice President Leni Robredo approves of the said bill, and will pass it immediately upon winning the 2022 presidential elections.

The claim is false.

The claim was debunked by Diokno himself in the comments on Friday, October 22: “Sa mga naka-basa nito: ‘Satire’ po ito ha! Walang pinagkaiba dun sa seatbelt para sa mga nagmomotorsiklo! Here’s my REAL platform: https://diokno.ph/platform. Wala pong pa-helmet jan!”

(For those who have read this: this is satire! This is no different from the [claim about legislating] seatbelts for motorcyclists! Here is my real platform: https://diokno.ph/platform. Nothing about helmets in there!)

Diokno was referring to similar false claims about Senator Risa Hontiveros supposedly advocating for seatbelts for motorcycle drivers.

“Abente” replied to Diokno’s comment with a screenshot of their page’s description, which says: “Mga balitang walang katotohanan at pawang bunga ng malikot na pagiisip. Wag seryosohin, good vibes lang.”

(News that is untrue and merely the result of rich imagination. Don’t take it seriously, just good vibes.) 

Although Diokno’s comment had garnered nearly the same amount of interactions as the post itself, some netizens continue to share the misleading post as if it were true. – Danna Gonsalves/Rappler.com

Danna Gonsalves is a Rappler intern. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.

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.