The Embassy of the United States in Manila denied reports on the internet that US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley praised President Rodrigo Duterte and his policies in the UN General Assembly in New York.
Press attaché Molly Koscina told reporters that Haley never defended Duterte in the UN events as claimed by a fake news website aljazreeranews-tv.com and an opinion piece published in The Manila Times.
“Transcripts of Ambassador Haley’s remarks are publicly available on the website of the US Mission to the United Nations. I refer you the transcripts which confirm that she did not make the statements recently reported in Philippine media,” Inquirer.net quoted Koscina.
In the article published by aljazreeranews-tv.com, a fake news site imitating the Qatar-based multimedia organization Al Jazeera, it claims that Haley defended Duterte’s policies and his advocacy against drugs. Al Jazeera’s real domain is aljazeera.com
The news became viral among pro-Duterte groups and pages on social media.
The article was already removed in their site.
However, columnist Yen Makabenta of The Manila Times apparently thought the article was authentic and even made an opinion column titled “Superstar speaks: Give Duterte space to run the Philippines,” published on September 23.
Basing his facts on the fake news article, Makabenta praised Haley as a “superstar” for “placing her voice squarely on the side of President Duterte and the Philippines.”
“The Philippines is suffocating. We must give President Duterte the space to run his nation. We must respect their independence … It is not in our purview to decide administrative issues for the Philippines… That is the job of the president,” he said in his column.
Currently, the opinion piece is still up in their website without a correction from the broadsheet editor.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Photo credit: Franz Espinoza
