Today, Vice President Leni Robredo urged Filipinos to report an old photo where she is shown flanked by several bodyguards while wading through knee-deep waters.
FAKE NEWS. Please help report.
This picture was taken 2 years ago when I visited Agutaya, Northern Palawan. Naglakad po kami from the boat to the shore kasi hindi na kayang makalapit nung sinakyan namin. Hindi po ito ngayong bagyo. pic.twitter.com/P5QokCpgh6
— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) November 12, 2020
The photo was shared by someone using the handle @talkiooo on Twitter, where he wrote, “Your guards should help rescue [typhoon victims]. This makes you an embarrassment.”
Read: ‘I Wanna Swim’: Duterte says doctors, security forbid him from visiting typhoon-ravaged Pinoys
The Twitter user referred to the scores of Filipinos who needed to be rescued yesterday after floodwaters brought by Typhoon Vamco inundated their homes. Some of the victims, such as those living in the Bicol region, have yet to fully recover from Typhoon Goni, which destroyed countless homes and farmlands early this month.
Robredo said that the photo was “fake news.”
“This picture was taken 2 years ago when I visited Agutaya, Northern Palawan. We walked from the boat to the shore because our vessel couldn’t go near [the beach]. This was not taken in the recent typhoon,” she said.
The tweet and the user’s account could no longer be found as of today.
Robredo has been at the forefront of rescue operations in Marikina City and Rizal province. Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he wants to meet typhoon victims, but his aides have forbidden him to do so.
