At a glance

• Claim: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque says Filipinos should thank China and President Rodrigo Duterte because without them, Hidilyn Diaz would not have won a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: Roque dismissed the quote as fake. There are no statements or reports that prove he said this.
• Why we fact-checked this: Posts containing this claim were spotted through social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.

Complete details

Multiple Facebook accounts and pages falsely attribute a statement to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, which says that Filipinos should thank China and President Rodrigo Duterte for the first Olympic gold medal of the Philippines. The fake quote card has been circulating on social media since July 28.

It reads: “We have to thank China and Pres. Duterte for the Olympic gold. Chinese po ang coach ni Hidilyn. Kumbaga kung wala ang China at wala si Tatay Digong, wala ding gold na makukuha ni Hidilyn. Kaya thankful tayo dapat sa China at kay Pres. Duterte.”

(We have to thank China and President Duterte for the first Olympic gold medal of the Philippines. Diaz’s coach is Chinese. Without China and Duterte, Diaz would not have won a gold medal. We should thank China and Duterte.)

The posts containing this claim were spotted through social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle. At least 15 Facebook users believed the fake quote card.

This claim is false. Roque did not say the quote attributed to him.

In a Facebook post on July 30, Roque dismissed the quote card as fake. The closest statement that Roque had made about Diaz’s victory was during a press briefing on July 27.

Roque said: “Congratulations, Hidilyn Diaz! Congratulations sa lahat ng kaniyang mga trainers and coaches! Congratulations sa kaniyang mga kababayan diyan sa Zamboanga City! And congratulations, Philippines, dahil talaga namang ang istorya po ni Hidilyn ay istorya ng mga ordinaryong mamamayang nagkaroon ng pangarap, nagpursige, at nagtagumpay.”

(Congratulations to all of her trainers and coaches! Congratulations to her townsmen in Zamboanga City! And congratulations, Philippines, because Diaz’s story is really a story of the ordinary Filipinos who dared to dream, persevered, and succeeded.)

Rappler also found no official statements, reports, audio, or video that prove Roque said the quote in question. There are also no news reports from any legitimate news outfit that quoted Roque as saying that Duterte and China are to thank for the country’s first Olympic gold.

Diaz made history as the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics weightlifting competition on July 26. The Philippines took home four medals from the Tokyo Olympics: one gold, two silvers, and one bronze. – Owenh Toledo/Rappler.com

Owenh Toledo 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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