Broadcast error fuels Philippine poll fraud claims
"God Comelec! It's Atty.Vic's name but Bam's face?" reads a Facebook post shared May 13, 2025, referring to candidate Vic Rodriguez and newly elected Senator Bam Aquino.
"Did you swap their votes? You panicked while switching votes so you made this mistake?"
The post includes a news graphic titled: "Bilang Pilipino 2025 Senatorial Race". It depicts votes received by six Senate bets.
However, the pictures and names do not match. The candidate ranked first, for example, has incumbent Senator Christopher Go's photo but is labelled Willie Revillame.
Similar posts rocketed across Facebook and TikTok a day after the archipelago nation's mid-term vote, which was largely defined by the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte (archived link).
The dozen senators chosen nationally will form half the jury in Duterte's July trial that could see her permanently barred from public office (archived link).
Comments on the posts indicate some people believed the graphic was proof Comelec rigged the votes.
"Comelec's deception busted," one reads.
Another says "Garcia must be held accountable," referring to poll body chairman George Garcia.
A keyword search on Google for "Bilang Pilipino 2025" found the faulty graphic in News5's live election night broadcast on Facebook (archived link).
AFP reviewed the original segment before it was edited out of the larger live stream. According to the anchors, the graphic showed unofficial results, with 58.89 percent of votes transmitted.
Local media ABS-CBN and GMA News also aired the results around the same time. The top six candidates and their corresponding votes are consistent with the pictures and tallies in News5's graphic (archived here and here).
News5 has since apologised for the name mix-up, which it attributed to a "graphics error".
"For a few seconds at around 9:15 p.m., we showed a tally of the partial, unofficial results for the senatorial contest that had the correct ranking and photos of candidates. The names, however, did not match," the broadcaster said in a Facebook statement published May 15 (archived link).
"Measures will be taken so that this does not happen again."
AFP has debunked more election-related misinformation in the Philippines here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Skift
an hour ago
- Skift
Planners Fear Immigration Crackdowns Will Make Hotel Labor Shortages Worse: Exclusive Survey
The hospitality industry has struggled with a labor shortage since the Covid pandemic. Now, immigration enforcement and an anti-immigrant sentiment are adding a new layer of complexity. An exclusive Skift Meetings survey of U.S. planners shows that they expect to grapple with the effects of Trump-era immigration policies on their events, with growing concern about hotel staffing across the board. More than two-thirds of respondents (72%) said they expect hotel staffing to be affected in 2025–2026 because of immigration policies. Only 13% foresaw no impact. 'Hotel staffing never fully bounced back after the pandemic. We're still experiencing some gaps in service in certain markets and at certain properties,' said Kyle Jordan, director of meetings at the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). Staffing issues are being felt at more than hotels. 'Challenges extend to other key partners like AV providers and vendors that support our meetings,' said Jordan. 'While it's hard to predict the full impact, I would expect that deportation activity could further strain staffing in some destinations.' Concerns stem not just from general staffing shortages but also the effect of revived immigration enforcement policies. 'The main issue is that for many workers in hotels, while they may be legal immigrants, the feeling toward immigrants in general has turned toxic,' said Mark Phillips, CEO of LamontCo. 'No one wants to live and work in such an environment or put families through it, so over time we will see less available even legal immigrant workforces. It already appears to be happening in several cities.' ICE Raids and Protests Exacerbate Immigration Issues In Los Angeles, several days of protests followed large-scale immigration raids by ICE. Protests have spread to other U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C, and New York City. a'The hospitality industry relies heavily on immigrant labor especially in back-of-house roles like housekeeping, food and beverage service, and maintenance. Stricter immigration enforcement, increased deportations, and general anti-immigration rhetoric have created fear and uncertainty among these workers, not to mention ICE raids, and I-9 audits. This leads some to leave the industry or self-deport, reducing the labor pool, making it even harder for hotels to fill critical positions,' said Robert Kraus, founder of Small Conferences. Kraus added that there are concerns about the future of the H-2B visa program and similar initiatives. 'There's also a worry that H-2B visas and other temporary worker programs will be curtailed plus general apprehension on potential workers to risk coming to the U.S. just to be told they can't enter or later be sent home only after a short amount of time. This could easily limit the number of foreign workers applying, which is critical for meeting seasonal demands of resorts and other hospitality businesses.' Labor shortages have already disrupted event logistics.'In several cases, my groups suffered through multi-hour lunch services because the hotel restaurant kitchen could not keep up with demand,' he said. Legal Compliance Doesn't Eliminate Anxiety Michael Dominguez, president and CEO of ALHI, argues that deportation is not necessarily a direct impact to hotel staffing. 'It has been required by law for any employee to complete an I-9 form, which verifies legal status and requires documentation,' said Dominguez. 'Any company or hotel not doing that is in violation of Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1986. Everyone working in a hotel needs documentation, or they are breaking the law.' Still, legal status does not erase worker anxiety, said Melanie Nathan, human rights advocate and executive director of the African Human Rights Coalition. 'I know people who are perfectly legal and who have filled in those I-9's who are too scared to go to work. They are standing back to try and ride out what they feel like is a storm. Some fear they might get picked up in workplaces where there are likely to be raids.' Guest Services and Sales Take a Hit The staffing crunch is also affecting guest experience and hotel revenue. 'Daily housekeeping is no longer a given. There are hotels where it is now every other day or on request,' said Akshar Patel, VP of corporate strategy and development at eShow Event Management Solutions and a hospitality expert. Beyond guest services, the staffing crunch is slowing business development efforts. 'A staffing shortage on the sales side is delaying RFPs,' said Patel. Andrea Milrad Heilweil, VP of sales and marketing at The Hutton Group, agrees. 'I have found that since Covid I have to be much more proactive with follow-up. Between people furloughed, laid off, or leaving the industry altogether, RFP responses, requests for contracts, setting up site visits, and general communication have been delayed.'
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Has No China Trade Strategy
President Trump on Wednesday hailed the result of the latest trade talks with China as a great victory, but the best we can say is that it's a truce that tilts in China's direction. Details are few, but the countries appear to be resetting their trade relationship to where it was a few months ago before a tit-for-tat escalation. Mr. Trump had agreed to reduce tariffs on China to 30% (55% including those he imposed during his first term) from 145% while China dropped its tariffs on U.S. goods to 10% from 125%.
Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Big Opportunity in Japan
On the first international trip of his second term, President Trump visited the Middle East and went big, sparking trillions in new artificial-intelligence-centered investments. The result was a win for the administration and a shift away from the narrative that tariffs have upset allies and roiled markets. Now the president has an opportunity to go even bigger, this time with Japan. Japan undergirds U.S. power in the Pacific. It has one of the world's largest economies—$4 trillion a year in output, some 27% of which is manufacturing. It spends $70 billion on defense, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2022 as Tokyo grapples with Beijing's growing capabilities and ambitions. Japanese companies lead the world in critical industries from robotics to material sciences and semiconductor equipment. And Japan hosts more U.S. servicemembers than any other nation. America, in turn, hosts a Japanese national treasure—Dodgers slugger and three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. The partnership is thriving. Take it from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba: 'The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security.' When visiting Iwo Jima in March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth agreed: 'Our alliance has been, and remains the cornerstone of freedom, prosperity, security and peace in the Indo-Pacific.' The alliance, moreover, has robust popular support: a 2024 poll found that 83% of Americans view Japan favorably. During Mr. Trump's first 100 days, the administration upgraded the status of U.S. forces in Japan, approved equipment sales for a Japanese hypersonic-missile program and explored joint production of dual-use ships. The president suggested collaboration on the Golden Dome missile defense system.
