FALSE: Manila ordinance for temporary closure of malls in March 2021

At a glance:

• Claim: The city of Manila implemented an ordinance in March 2021 providing for the temporary closure of all malls and similar establishments in the city.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: This was an old ordinance implemented in March 2020 and is no longer in effect.
• Why we fact-checked this: Posts containing this claim were spotted on social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle and on Facebook.

Complete details:

In March 2021, multiple Facebook users posted a graphic about the city of Manila’s Ordinance No. 8617, an ordinance that mandates the temporary closure of all malls and similar establishments in the city.

One user posted the graphic in an album, saying, “[Paalala] po… mga bagong ordinansa sa Maynila (Reminder, new ordinances in Manila).”

These posts were spotted on social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle and on Facebook.

This claim is false.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno addressed this claim in a Facebook post on March 15, calling it “fake news.”

“The said city ordinance was posted last March 17, 2020 in line with the announcement that Metro Manila will be placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic. We would also like to clarify that Ordinance No. 8617 is no longer in effect,” his post read.

The graphic used in the claim was posted on Facebook by the Manila Public Information Office on March 17, 2020.

Following the anniversary of the first pandemic-related lockdown announcement in the Philippines, social media users have been recirculating old graphics, putting them in a false or wrong context. (READ: Year after lockdown: How pandemic restrictions look like in PH)

Rappler earlier debunked separate claims saying Cavite province is preparing for a total lockdown while Tagaytay City is under lockdown as of March 18 or 19. – Loreben Tuquero/Rappler.com

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