The epidemic of fake news has gotten so severe that even a columnist from the oldest English newspaper in the Philippines fell for it.
On Saturday, columnist Yen Makabenta of The Manila Times wrote an opinion piece titled “Superstar speaks: Give Duterte space to run the Philippines” about US ambassador to the United Nations a.k.a. “superstar” Nikki Haley’s statement about President Rodrigo Duterte and his bloody war on drugs in the Philippines.
Here’s Haley’s alleged quote: “The Philippines is suffocating. We must give President Duterte the space to run his nation. We must respect their independence … It is not in our purview to decide administrative issues for the Philippines… That is the job of the president… Destructive forces have never given the Duterte administration enough space to jump-start his programs of government; they did not even afford him the proverbial honeymoon period… Now, they have calibrated their plot to ouster movements and this is just the second year of his presidency.”
Of this statement, Makabenta wrote, “Haley placed her voice squarely on the side of President Duterte and the Philippines… She called on human rights groups (the UN’s included) to be impartial and not take political sides while dispensing their duties in any particular nation… She asked HR groups in the Philippines to engage in consultations with the Duterte government and shun political stances which may lead to a loss of relevance and credibility for the country.”
He adds, “Bullseye. Haley could not have hit her target more squarely.”
But here’s the catch: That statement came from a fake news article. It’s from a sham website masquerading as Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news organization, that’s been making rounds on social media.
Jamela Alindogan, Philippine correspondent for the real Al Jazeera, clarified through a Facebook post that the article and website are fake.
Alindogan wrote, “Just to clarify… to those who keep falling for fake news- this is a fake aljazeera website. The correct one is www.aljazeera.com. I ask you please to be careful when sharing stuff online. Trolls are working overtime. Their intention is to discredit journalists and to fool the public.”
The seasoned reporter also debunked another article from the same fake website:
She explained, “This is a fake story from a fake website. We never did this story. This never happened. The correct one is www.aljazeera.com. Help us report it.”
As of posting, Makabenta’s opinion piece has not been taken down by The Manila Times. Both parties are yet to issue a statement.
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