State-run People’s Television Network had used a photoshopped warship in its report about President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to deploy a Navy frigate to Libya to assist in the retrieval of hostaged Filipinos.
Facebook page Philippine Defense Forces Forum took screenshots of PTV’s “Ulat Bayan” report showing the supposed Navy frigate.
Shame on you PTV for broadcasting altered photos claiming these as current assets of our Philippine Navy. You presented false and misleading information to the public.#FakeNews #ThisIsWhereOurTaxesGo
Posted by Philippines Defense Forces Forum on Sunday, August 5, 2018
“Shame on you PTV for broadcasting altered photos claiming these as current assets of our Philippine Navy. You presented false and misleading information to the public,” its post read.
The original photo of the warship, identified as a Chinese Type 054A frigate on its Wikipedia page, show the vessel as having a Chinese flag and hull number 575.
The photoshopped image aired by PTV has the Philippine flag instead of China’s flag and the words “Philippine Navy” was placed on the ship’s hull.
“PTV News video editors likely downloaded this from the Internet and replaced China’s flag with our flag using image editing software,” Philippine Defense Forces Forum wrote in the comments section.
PTV released aired the report after Duterte promised to send a Navy frigate to Libya to conduct rescue operations for the three Filipino kidnapped there.
Fake Navy warship photo had been shared before
This was not the first time that the questionable picture was used in a news article.
On February 18, Makati-based company Concept News Central picked up the same photo and captioned it: “an incheon class frigate which the Philippines is acquiring” in a story.
The story came from the Philippine News Agency, a media agency also supervised by PCOO.
Moreover, a video website based in Vietnam called Hay16.com also used such picture. — Artwork by Uela Altar-Badayos
