FACT CHECK: China hasn’t bombed the Philippines

Claim: The thumbnail of the YouTube video claims that China has bombed the Philippines and that war between the two countries has begun. 

The thumbnail of the video says: “BINOMBA NA TAYO! SIMULA NA NG GIYERA! SASALI NA SA GIYERA ANG PILIPINAS! MAGHANDA NA!” (We have been bombed! The war has begun! The Philippines is joining the war! Be prepared!)

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video was posted by a Philippine-based channel with 430,000 subscribers. As of writing, the video has 16,000 views.

Irrelevant clips, narration: The YouTube video in question does not provide any sources for its claims. In fact, the video itself contains neither footage nor narration relevant to the claim made in its thumbnail.

Instead, the video is merely a compilation of unrelated stock photos of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping with an added voiceover of an outdated UNTV news interview of Bam Aquino from 2017 discussing former President Rodrigo Duterte’s independent foreign policy.

No other reports: No reputable institutions have reported a bombing attack on the Philippines by China. If this had been true, it would have been headline material for all Philippine news media.

Online search using the keywords “China attack on the Philippines” yields only a report of Chinese naval vessels using military-grade lasers against Philippine coast guard vessels. – Miguel Batallones/Rappler.com

Miguel Batallones is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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