FALSE: Ramon Ang says Duterte’s presidential bet will surely win in 2022

At a glance:

• Claim: Ramon Ang says that President Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsed candidate will surely win the presidential election in 2022.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: Ang is quoted only to have said that Duterte’s endorsement will be the key factor in the 2022 elections. In a phone call with Rappler, Ramon Ang’s office denied that he said this specific quote. 
• Why we fact-checked this: This claim was flagged by Facebook Claim Check, and has 8,800 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 197 shares as of writing.

Complete details:

On April 23, Facebook page “Filipino Social Club” uploaded a quote card of businessman Ramon Ang with the quote “SIGURADONG PANALO NA ang sinumang iendorso ni Presidente Duterte sa pagka-Pangulo sa 2022” (Whoever President Duterte endorses for president in 2022 will surely win).

The quote card has 8,800 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 197 shares as of writing. It was flagged by Facebook’s fact-checking tool as potentially misleading.

This claim is false. 

Ang did not say that whoever Duterte endorses will surely win the 2022 presidential election. He is quoted only to have said that Duterte’s endorsement is the key factor in the elections. In a phone call with Rappler, Ang’s office denied that he said the specific quote in the social media quote card. 

In an April 18 report by Philstar.com, Ang was quoted as saying that he believed that “the President’s endorsement is still the key factor to victory, given his outstanding trust rating.” This statement was made after Ang clarified that he was not endorsing Senator Manny Pacquiao’s candidacy, saying that the 2022 elections was still a “wide open race.”

Further, Ang is quoted in a report by The Manila Standard, saying: “I’m no expert in elections or politics, but the bottomline is, I believe President Duterte will still be the major factor in 2022. He continues to enjoy our people’s trust by a high margin. Whoever the President picks would most likely be the candidate to beat.”

In 2016, Duterte acknowledged Ang as one of his presidential campaign donors. – Therese Litonjua/Rappler.com

This article was written by a Rappler intern and reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s internship program here.

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