Duterte dared broadcaster Waldy Carbonell to a duel, not the other way around

Claim: Waldy Carbonell, a broadcaster who was recently arrested for cyber libel, once dared former president Rodrigo Duterte to a duel.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim can be found on the websites “Daily BNC News” and “WE ARE PINOY” and also on some Facebook pages and groups which shared the links to the external websites.

The bottom line: It was not Carbonell who dared Duterte to a duel. Rather, it was Duterte who dared Carbonell. 

This happened in 2003 when Carbonell was in Davao to investigate the murder of Davao City-based journalist Jun Pala. Duterte was Davao City mayor back then. 

Current cyber libel case of Carbonell: Carbonell was arrested on August 28 for six counts of cyber libel filed by Piddig, Ilocos Norte Mayor Eduardo Guillen. 

Carbonell’s bail was set at ₱72,000 for each count. This was also reported on in an August 29 article of Inquirer.net, “Radio commentator nabbed for cyberlibel,” which also mentioned Duterte’s 2003 dare to Carbonell and the then-mayor being a no-show in the duel. – Percival Bueser/Rappler.com

Percival Bueser 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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