Reports came out this morning that President Rodrigo Duterte had endorsed his most trusted aide Christopher “Bong” Go to run for senate in the upcoming 2019 elections. It was a big story until we found out one thing: it was fake.
According to a report in Rappler by Palace reporter Pia Ranada, the person interviewed wasn’t actually Duterte.
“Raise his hand now. I’ve already raised his hand,” the fake Duterte said in Filipino during an interview with radio station dzRH. The voice pretending to be Duterte was actually DzRH Bicol correspondent Jun Alegre.
He was so believable that transcribers working at the Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO), whose job is to listen and transcribe all of the president’s speeches, thought it was him.
According to Ranada’s story, the transcripts emailed to media were labeled, “Interview with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte by Deo Macalma/Rica Herra/Isyu/DZRH.”
Since the PCOO is an official Palace source, local media, including ABS-CBN News and GMA News, ran the story as a real endorsement based on PCOO’s transcripts. Those stories have now been taken down.
READ: Duterte assistant dubbed ‘selfie king’ now a hilarious Facebook filter
Although this morning’s endorsement was fake, it’s definitely not too far from reality that Go would get an endorsement from his boss.
Last week, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte would “support Bong Go to the hilt.”
Before Go became the man everyone had to talk to to get to the president, he was Duterte’s personal assistant while mayor of Davao City. He handled tasks like gassing up Duterte’s car, to issuing checks and organizing the president’s schedule.
This is probably why the president reacted strongly when Rappler published an investigative report linking his aide to intervening in favor of a foreign company in a PHP15.7 billion (US$314 million) frigate deal.
While the report prompted a senate investigation of the deal, Duterte called the report “fake news” and then followed up by banning reporter Pia Ranada from covering the Palace.
READ: Q&A: Rappler reporter Pia Ranada talks about the day Duterte banned her from the Palace
The clamor for Go’s run started last week with a campaign of supporters encouraging him to run. To this, Go said: “I have heard that even the overseas Filipino workers are organizing, I find it heartwarming, but just leave them be, and tell them that I will continue with what I am doing, maybe when September comes, that is the time when I will decide.”
Those who plan to run for office have until October to file their certificate of candidacies for the upcoming 2019 midterm elections, where 12 senatorial seats and congressional and local positions will be up for grabs.
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