A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube alongside a claim it shows a campaign rally for Philippine presidential election favourite Ferdinand Marcos Jr in March that was “not covered by the media”. The post circulated online as the volunteer-driven campaign of Marcos Jr’s main rival Leni Robredo appeared to be gathering momentum. But the claim is false: multiple Philippine media organisations published corresponding videos of the campaign rally. AFP has previously debunked posts that falsely accused the Philippine media of not covering Marcos Jr’s public appearances or his campaign.

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The 13-minute video was published on YouTube on March 16 on a channel called Showbiz Fanaticz.

The channel has a history of sharing election-related misinformation, which AFP has debunked here and here.

The video has been viewed more than 23,000 times.

The post claims the footage shows clips of a Marcos Jr motorcade in Nueva Ecija province north of the capital that attracted a throng of his supporters despite a heavy downpour.

The video’s Tagalog-language caption translates to English in part as: “This is what the media is not showing: Despite rain, people from Nueva Ecija did not leave Macos [sic].”

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A voiceover can be heard saying, “Rain or shine, the show must go on. This is what online users are saying after witnessing the grand caravan of the BBM-Sara tandem in Nueva Ecija.

“Though people got drenched because of the rain, they did not leave presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos behind.”

“BBM” and “Bongbong” are nicknames for Marcos Jr, son, and namesake of the country’s former dictator.

Marcos Jr has teamed up with Sara Duterte — daughter of outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte — under a ticket called “UniTeam”.

The video circulated online as the volunteer-driven campaign for Marcos Jr’s main rival for the top job — Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo — appeared to be gathering momentum.

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Crowd sizes have swelled at Robredo’s recent rallies, including on March 20, when more than 130,000 of her supporters flocked to an event in the suburbs of Manila, AFP reported here.

The YouTube video also was shared in blogs here and here alongside a similar claim.

Comments on the posts suggested they misled social media users.

“This is why I only believe in video bloggers and not the media,” one user wrote.

“Stop hoping [media] would report on this, most of them require bribes first,” another commented.

In reality, multiple local media organisations reported on Marcos Jr’s supporters flocking to see his motorcade in Nueva Ecija.

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Local media coverage

Keyword searches found Philippine television network ABS-CBN, one of the biggest news organisations in the country, reported on Marcos Jr’s rally on March 15, 2022.

“UniTeam standard bearer Bongbong Marcos toured Nueva Ecija that is considered his bailiwick,” the ABS-CBN report’s caption states.

“And despite the heavy rain, supporters of UniTeam still flocked its motorcade,” the reporter can be heard saying.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and a corresponding frame in ABS-CBN’s report (right) with similar elements circled in red by AFP:

Philippine media organisations News5, OnePH and Inquirer.net also reported on the event and mentioned the downpour.

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News outlet Rappler streamed the campaign rally live on YouTube here.

AFP has previously debunked posts that accused the Philippine media of not reporting on Marcos Jr and his campaign here and here.