Senatorial aspirant Emmanuel “ Manny” Pinol, former secretary of the Mindanao Development Authority and the Department of Agriculture (DA), posted on his Facebook account last October 9 a set of photos showing him inspecting the flooded plains of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur in January 2017 when he was still the DA secretary. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php story_fbid=419764492852792&id=100044577333084
One of the photos caught the attention of netizens, who pointed out that it was doctored.
Piñol wrote that he was deeply offended by the accusation because “I deem it a question on my integrity and honesty.”
“The photo is authentic and real!” Pinol said.
But many well-meaning netizens contradicted his claim on the photo in question.
Some of the netizens who pointed out the altered photo said:
He definitely was there doing his work as a public servant. Ito lang talagang photo na to (Only this photo).. Di naman kailangan pang eedit sapat na yung legit (No need to edit, the legitimate photos are enough)–- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4742535905789783&set=p.4742535905789783&type=3
Oo nga sir na photoshop talaga..simpling sorry na lang yan..sigurado namang hindi kayo ang nag edit nyan (Yes sir, it was really photoshopped. Just a simple sorry will do. I’m sure you’re not the one who edited it)– https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4377280932308736&set=p.4377280932308736&type=3
As of Friday, 15 October 2021, Piñol’s post generated at least 11,000 reactions, 1,500 comments and 451 shares.
MindaNews fact-checking team: Rob Gumba and Bong S. Sarmiento
(This fact-check piece was produced with the support of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator Project.)
