Journalists fight back
President Marcos has late-stage colon cancer. Videos and photos of him at the Araw ng Kagitingan in Mt. Samat in Bataan last Thursday are “throwback” pictures. Mainstream media organizations are in cahoots with Malacañang in covering up his serious illness.
These were claims posted on social media, which are becoming increasingly vicious and pushing the envelope on how much disinformation institutions can tolerate.
The President has dismissed the rumors as nothing but “playful” posts by netizens, assuring the nation that he was back to his routine after being hospitalized for diverticulitis in January.
But journalists and news organizations, dragged into the fray, did not take the assault sitting down. They strongly denounced the brazen attempts by vloggers and online trolls to manipulate their images and content, and malign the integrity of their work and editorial independence.
The Presidential Photojournalists Association, whose members come from different news organizations, slammed posts claiming their photos of the President were fabricated. They said their members were present during the President’s activities.
Very much alive
The Malacañang Press Corps (MPC), composed of journalists covering the President, also issued a statement strongly rejecting allegations that their members are taking bribes to cover up the true state of the President’s health.
“We also condemn blatant attempts to undermine the credibility of journalists and mislead the public in order to advance the interests of a few,” the MPC added.
TV networks also took exception to charges that their videos of the President were rehashed and fact-checked posts that misused their content.
The media pushback was in response to a resurgence of online posts by supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte, reviving claims that Mr. Marcos was taken to the hospital, and supposedly suffering from cancer, on Thursday. It was the same day the President was seen very much alive and leading the commemoration of Araw ng Kagitingan in Mt. Samat in Bataan.
The event was broadcast live by Malacañang, livestreamed on social media platforms of major TV, radio, and print media outfits and covered by their journalists on the ground. But no amount of live coverage would convince the trolls—they came up with a new twist.
‘Sudden and coordinated surge’
A fact-check conducted by Philstar.com said the comment sections of major news outlets were peppered with false claims that the photos and videos of the President were “throwback” posts taken in 2024 or 2025.
It cited a “solid Duterte supporter,” who posted a Facebook reel that claimed: “Nasaan na ba ang Pangulo? Mag-live kayo wag puro Throback [sic] pictures,” even as the event was being shown live. The post has garnered over 14,000 views, 300 reactions, and 200 comments.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) also mounted a concerted effort against fake news peddlers and the giant social media platforms hosting these malicious accounts.
Last week, the PCO filed cyber libel complaints at the Department of Justice against administrators of a Facebook page that posted reports about a fuel shortage and an impending “emergency lockdown” due to a new variant of COVID-19.
PCO Secretary Dave Gomez vowed to file more charges after noting that the PCO detected a “sudden and coordinated surge” of disinformation about the President’s health. “We will identify the perpetrators, trace their networks, and file the proper charges in court once the evidence is complete, hopefully by next week,” Gomez said.
Political disinformation
The PCO and the DICT, in a joint letter to Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, required the platform to implement stricter measures to curb the spread of false information, which they said poses risks to public order, economic stability, and national security.
They warned the Meta owner that the Philippine government would be constrained to take legal and regulatory actions if the platform fails to act on their demand swiftly.
In its Digital News Report 2025, the Reuters Institute noted that disinformation and harmful content surged in the Philippines following the rift between Mr. Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte, with disinformation also aimed at mainstream media outlets for allegedly biased coverage.
The political crisis is only expected to heighten, as the House pursues the impeachment case against the VP, and her detained father is awaiting possible trial at the International Criminal Court. All this will come to a head at the presidential election just two years away, when political disinformation could influence the vote.
The government, media organizations, and citizens alike must continue to fight disinformation used by powerful forces to distort the truth for their personal ends.
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