FALSE: Video of Drilon walking out from Senate session on August 10

Claim:

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon walked out after a debate with Senator Cynthia Villar during a Senate session on August 10, according to a video livestreamed by Duterte News Info Live.

A news banner ran below the video reading, “BREAKING NEWS: Drilon Nagwalk Out! Dahil sa sinabi ni Villar!” (Drilon walked out! Because of what Villar said!)

The video was livestreamed on Monday, August 10, with the title and caption: “Nakakagulat Na Balita August 10, 2020 Sana All: Drilon supalpal biglang nagwalk-out dahil sa nakakagulat na banat ni Cynthia Villar!” (Shocking news August 10, 2020: Drilon suddenly walks out because of Cynthia Villar’s surprising criticism!)

The video ran for almost 8 hours, but its content was only a 12-minute clip on loop.

As of writing, the livestream had over 281,000 views, 705 shares, and 3,300 reactions. A reader sent the video to Rappler’s email for verification.

Rating: FALSE

The facts:

The clip in the video was from a Senate session on February 4, 2020. Facebook page Duterte News Info Live only livestreamed it on August 10 and captioned the video as such to make the events seem recent. Drilon also did not walk out of the chamber during the discussion.

Furthermore, there was no session that day as the Senate enforced a two-week lockdown starting August 4 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the misleading video, Drilon was seen returning to his seat after having a heated discussion with Villar on the proposed budget for the bamboo industry in Senate Bill No. 1240. In reality, however, he turned around and went back to the rostrum to again argue with Villar.

The official YouTube channel of the Philippine Senate streamed the February 4 session here. Drilon and Villar’s verbal exchange started at around the 50-minute mark.

After the exchange, the video showed Drilon back in his seat speaking to Villar who had approached him. Villar said it was just a “miscommunication.” – Denise Galias/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.