FALSE: Robredo says Duterte will declare martial law or ‘total lockdown’

At a glance

• Claim: Vice President Leni Robredo says President Rodrigo Duterte will declare martial law or a “total lockdown.”
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: The video was manipulated. The original video was from the Facebook Live of Robredo on November 15, 2020, after Typhoon Ulysses. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles refuted the claim that Duterte would declare martial law and said it was “fake news.”
• Why we fact-checked this: As of writing, the video with the claim that was uploaded on January 8 has 3,600 reactions, 2,700 comments, and 134,000 views on Facebook.

Complete details

Facebook page “Sunade” uploaded a video on January 8, that falsely claimed that Vice President Leni Robredo said President Rodrigo Duterte would declare martial law or a “total lockdown” the following Monday or Tuesday, and that people needed to prepare and secure food.

The post caption said, “MaMa LEni Nyo Nagkakalat na ng FAKENEWS. Ito ba ang gusto nyo Leader mukhang DESPERADA na ah?” (Your Mom Leni Robredo spreads fake news. Is this the leader you want? She’s looking desperate, right?)

As of writing, the video has 3,600 reactions, 2,700 comments, and 134,000 views on Facebook.

This claim is false.

The original video used was from the Facebook live of Robredo on November 15, 2020, on her official Facebook page after Typhoon Ulysses ravaged Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

The video was entitled “[A] LIVE: VP Leni at the boundary of Linao East and Annafunan in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.” Robredo did not mention anything about martial law or even the name of Duterte in the video.

On January 7, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles debunked the claim that Duterte would announce Martial Law and said it was “fake news.” 

“Fake news po ito. Huwag po tayong magpapaniwala sa mga ganitong uri ng balita,” Nograles said. (This is fake news. Let us please not believe this kind of news.)

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on January 6 also refuted a similar claim by a voice recording that had spread on social media.

VeraFiles has also published a fact check story on this claim. – 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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