FALSE: Roque says win elections first, then you can steal

At a glance

• Claim: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said a person should win elections first, then they can steal if they want. 
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: No reports or news articles can be found with the alleged quote coming from Roque. The background and description of the quote card used were from an ABS-CBN News quote card published on September 2, 2021. Roque himself denied saying the quote being attributed to him. 
• Why we fact-checked this: The claim was posted in the “Fact-checking in the Philippines” Facebook group for verification. A subsequent CrowdTangle search revealed several Facebook posts with the quote card.

Complete details

A quote card has been circulating on Facebook, featuring a statement allegedly from Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, saying among other things that a person should win an election first and then can steal if they want.

“Nakakasawang issue ng corruption. Panahon pa ni Hesus, may corruption na. So what kung, kung mas malala pa ngayon. Manalo muna kayo ng eleksiyon at kayo naman ang magnakaw kung gusto niyo!” the quote read.

(The issue of corruption is always brought up. Since the time of Jesus, there’s been corruption. So what if it’s worse today? Win an election first and then steal if you want!)

The claim was posted in the “Fact-checking in the Philippines” Facebook group for verification. A subsequent CrowdTangle search revealed several Facebook posts with the quote card. Some of the quote cards did not show any supposed publication or news network that carried the report, while some others showed the name of SMNI News Channel.

The supposed quote from Roque is false. 

No reports or news articles can be found with the alleged quote coming from Roque.

Also, Roque has released two posts on his official Facebook account on September 4 and September 6 in which he denied saying the quote. In the September 4 post, Roque said, “Fake news alert!!!” In the September 6 post, he called for accountability for social media posts.

SMNI News has also disowned the quote card on a September 4 post and as can be seen on photos in Roque’s posts.

Below Roque’s name in the false quote card, the description says that the original quoted statement was “on the alleged criminal involvement of executives of the Philippine contractor Pharmally” and was said on September 2, 2021.

The original quote card with Roque’s name and the same description and background can be seen in a Facebook post by ABS-CBN News on September 2, 2021.

The correct quote from Roque was, “Ang nag-bid po, ‘yong korporasyon. Hindi naman po kinakailangan busisiin talaga ‘yong personalidad na nasa likod ng korporasyon kasi nga po separate personality ‘yon.” 

(It is the corporation that made the bid. It is not necessary to scrutinize the personality behind the corporation because it is a separate personality.) 

The statement can also be found with slightly different wording in a September 2, 2021, article on the ABS-CBN News website.

Rappler has fact-checked false quotes attributed to Roque before, such as the following:

• FALSE: Roque says people who are ‘pango’ will be vaccinated last
• FALSE: Roque says China, Duterte to thank for PH’s Olympic gold medal
• FALSE: Roque says poor have no right to be choosy over vaccine
• FALSE: Roque quote on 10,000 COVID-19 deaths
• FALSE: Roque says Duterte receives P460 million monthly from POGOs
• FALSE: Roque warning vs GMA, TV5 on criticizing Duterte

– 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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