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The misleading video merely shows snippets of the Senate hearing on dismissed mayor Alice Guo, but provides no evidence to back up its false claim
Claim: Dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo admitted being pregnant with Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy’s baby after the two secretly escaped the country.
Rating: False
Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video containing the claim was posted on September 5 by a channel with over 495,000 subscribers. As of writing, the video has 171,174 views and around 1,800 likes.
The title of the YouTube video says: “Alice Guo, inaming nabuntis ni Quiboloy matapos isama sa pagtakas ng Pinas!” (Alice Guo admits that Quiboloy impregnated her when they fled the Philippines!)
According to the narrator, Guo’s sister Shiela told the Senate that the dismissed mayor could not attend the hearing as she was still dealing with trauma over Quiboloy’s alleged molestation.
Pictures of Quiboloy, the Guos, Senator Raffy Tulfo, and images of an ultrasound scan and a positive pregnancy test were used throughout the video. It also features a clip from a Senate hearing featuring Sheila Guo, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Joel Villanueva, and representatives from the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
The facts: Alice Guo is not pregnant with Quiboloy’s baby, nor did the two escape the country together.
Quiboloy went into hiding earlier this year following the Senate’s investigation into his alleged offenses, including allegations of child trafficking and sexual abuse. Guo, on the other hand, left the country on July 18 after snubbing Senate hearings into her alleged links to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators.
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Out-of-context media: After a quick reverse image search on the Senate hearing clip used in the video, Rappler found that the footage was from a September 5 hearing, starting from the 20:58 mark where senators talked about the penalties that Shiela Guo could face following the money laundering complaint filed against her. The Anti-Money Laundering Council, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission jointly filed the suit against the Guos and 32 others on August 30.
The misleading YouTube video provides no evidence for its claim. At no point during the Senate hearing did Shiela Guo say that Quiboloy molested Alice Guo.
No connection: The video seems to imply a connection between Guo and Quiboloy, who were arrested mere days from each other. The video was uploaded a few days after Guo was arrested on September 3 in Jakarta, Indonesia. At the time, Philippine police had been searching for Quiboloy at the KOJC compound in Davao City. The police operations were greeted with protests from church members and supporters complaining about the “unlawful” search. On September 8, Quiboloy “surrendered” to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, ending a months-long manhunt for the self-proclaimed “chosen son of God.”
Misleading content: The YouTube channel that posted the video has previously posted misleading information. The titles of its videos are usually phrased to trick people into watching them, yet the actual content differs from what was promised in the title and thumbnail.
Previous fact checks: Rappler has published several fact-checks related to Guo and Quiboloy:
– Barbra Gavilan/Rappler.com
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Barbra Gavilan is a Rappler intern. She is a fourth year Journalism student at the University of Santo Tomas.
