- Netizens lambasted the photo for maliciously linking Duterte to suspected drug lord Peter Lim
- The post claimed Lim financed Duterte’s presidential campaign and the two are actually good friends
- But Facebook users defended the President; saying it could have been just one of the random pictures at the wedding
- Others suggested the photo may have been edited
Pro-Duterte netizens are up in arms against a viral photo that tried to link the President to alleged Filipino-Chinese drug lord Peter Lim.
The picture was first shared on the FACTS Against Ignorance, apparently an anti-Duterte Facebook page who claims the recent meeting between Lim and the President in Davao City was nothing but a staged drama.
According to the post, the picture was taken at the wedding of the daughter of businessman Fernando Borja where Duterte and Lim both stood as sponsors.
However, the post went further by claiming that Duterte and Lim were actually close friends and the latter financially supported the President’s campaign last election.
“Alam ninyo ba kung bakit ang druglord na si Peter Lim ay binibigyan ng due process ni Digong kumpara sa mga maliliit na kriminal na tuluyan ng pinapatay?” the post asked.
[Do you know why drug lord Peter Lim was given due process by Duterte compared to smaller criminals being killed instantly?]
“It mins [sic], siya ay tumatanaw ng utang na loob dito dahil sa ginastos nito noong eleksiyon,” it added. [It means he is paying his debt of gratitude because of the money he (Lim) spent last election.]
Malicious, ‘edited’
But netizens were not convinced and immediately lambasted the post for maliciously linking Duterte to Lim without offering facts.
“Being a godfather in a wedding or baptism does not automatically make you a friend or cohort of a fellow godfather or godmother which you probably met only on the day of the wedding or baptism,” wrote one commenter.
“Just a random pic from a wedding…a simple pictorial doesn’t mean they’re friends.. so if we had a pic with Brad Pitt doesn’t make him my friend lol,” added another.
A Facebook user said she knows of that wedding which was held in Cebu where Duterte and Lim indeed stood as sponsors, but so are other political figures like former Senator Manny Villar and Gov. Edgar Chato, among others.
She also refuted the allegation that Lim financed Duterte’s candidacy, and that it was actually Mr. Borja who is a close friend to the President.
“That’s a wedding, both invited and siguro nmn kahit ganun ka brutal ang pananalita ni duterte [even if he is acid-tongued] he still is an educated person and well mannered….can’t he just be nice? There’s a right place for everything,” the commenter explained.
Others suggested the photo may have been edited.
Kumpare
An Inquirer article said that Lim’s spokesperson, Dioscoro Fuentes Jr., confirmed that the picture was indeed taken at the wedding of Israeli expatriate Yuri Ofek and Borja’s daughter Beatrice last June 25.
However, Fuentes denied in a July 8 press conference that his client was the same Peter Lim whom Duterte named as one of the country’s drug lords.
“If you’ll look at it, my client and our beloved President are kumpare,” Lim’s lawyer was quoted as telling reporters.
Last Friday, Duterte met Lim and warned the suspected drug lord to submit himself to an investigation or he might end up getting killed.
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