A news report about a bullet hole found at the office of Philippine presidential front runner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr has been viewed millions of times in social media posts that link the clip to an alleged assassination attempt against him in 2022. The video has been shared in a misleading context; the report was aired by local broadcaster GMA News in 2015.

“Our candidate is in danger,” reads a Tagalog-language Facebook post shared on February 1, 2022.

The video, which has garnered more than three million views, shows a news report about a bullet hole found at Marcos Jr’s office.

“The guard at the Sunset View building was shocked after seeing a bullet hole on the window of the office of Senator Bongbong Marcos at 3:30pm yesterday,” the journalist says in Tagalog.

Text superimposed on the footage reads: “BBM assassination 2022?”

“BBM” are the initials of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, the son of the country’s late dictator and a front runner in the 2022 presidential election.

Screenshot of the misleading post. Taken February 10, 2022.

The same video was shared in similar Facebook posts here, here and here.

A TikTok user who allegedly posted about a plot to kill Marcos Jr surrended to authorities on February 8, 2022.

Some social media users appeared to believe the news report was recent.

“BBM’s opponents are now desperate because they know they won’t be able to beat him in the presidential race. Please protect BBM,” one person commented.

“It’s because the opposition already knows that they’re going to lose!” another wrote.

However, the posts are misleading. In reality, the video shows a news report that is more than six years old.

Keyword searches on YouTube found the video was taken from a news report posted by GMA News on August 3, 2015.

“A bullet hole was found at the office of Senator Bongbong Marcos but the senator believes the incident is unrelated to his work,” the report states.

Marcos Jr was a senator from 2010 to 2016.

In the report, Marcos Jr told reporters: “I’m hoping it’s only a stray bullet. Maybe someone made a mistake, an accidental fire.”

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (left) and the GMA News report (right).

( Screenshot comparison taken on February 10, 2022. / )

Local media ABS-CBN, Inquirer and Philstar also reported on the incident in 2015.

The misleading posts were debunked by Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files here.

AFP