FALSE: Iriga City mayor says Robredo is incapable of becoming PH president

At a glance:

• Claim: Iriga City Mayor Madel Alfelor said Vice President Leni Robredo, a fellow Bicolano, is incapable of becoming president of the Philippines.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: There are no news reports and no releases from the official Facebook page of the Iriga City government proving Alfelor said the quote. Moreover, the city government of Iriga said Alfelor never made any such statement about Robredo.
• Why we fact-checked this: Quote cards with the statement can be found in several Facebook posts, including ones from Facebook pages “Yellow DDS” and “Bicol Politics.”

Complete details:

Several Facebook posts have quote cards claiming Iriga City Mayor Madel Alfelor said that Vice President Leni Robredo was incapable of becoming president of the Philippines, and suggested that she should become governor instead.

The quote read: “Hindi kaya ni Leni Robredo na maging presidente ng Pilipinas! Wala akong bilib sa kakayahan niya. Kaya kung ako sa kanya ay mag-governor na lang siya!” (Leni Robredo is incapable of becoming president of the Philippines! I don’t believe in her abilities. So if I were her then she should just become governor!)

The quote cards are notably found in posts published on August 7 by Facebook pages “Yellow DDS” and “Bicol Politics,” which have gained about 47,000 reactions, 11,000 comments, and 2,500 shares combined, as of writing.

Other sources of the quote cards include posts by the Facebook pages “Alon Calinao Dy,” “La solidaridad,” and “SOLID Duterte,” as well as in the Facebook groups “DUTERTE ANG BOSES NG MASA” and “PHILIPPINE FEDERAL MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL.”

The claim is false. 

There are no news reports and no releases from the “Iriga City Official” Facebook page that prove Alfelor said the quote.

Moreover, when asked about the quote, the city government of Iriga emailed Rappler a statement, saying, “The City Mayor of Iriga never released any statement stating that our Honorable Vice President Leni Robredo is not capable of running as President of the Republic of the Philippines.”

The statement continues: “In fact, we recently released a statement on our official Facebook page thanking the good VP for all her efforts regarding the IrigaVax Express held in our city.” 

It referred to an August 8 post in the “Iriga City Official” Facebook page in which Alfelor thanked Robredo for latter’s guidance in the IrigaVax Express project, where 6,102 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were given on August 6 and August 7. 

The statement adds: “The City Mayor and the people of Iriga will support Vice-President Leni Robredo in whatever journey she will take in the future.”

Rappler has made several fact checks featuring Robredo before, about statements attributed to her, statements others allegedly made about her, or claims about her, such as the following:

• FALSE: Robredo says PH wrapped in darkness, she is ready to become president
• FALSE: Locsin says Robredo not essential, not a loss to PH
• FALSE: Robredo is a member of CPP-NPA-NDF

– 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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