FALSE: Mar Roxas ‘leaves’ Otso Diretso

Claim: A post on the blog dutertedefenders.net says that senatorial candidate Mar Roxas has left the Otso Diretso coalition.

The post, dated Monday, March 18, is headlined “BREAKING: MAR ROXAS UMALIS NA SA OTSO DIRETSO AT KAMPI NA KAY PRES. DUTERTE.” (Breaking: Mar Roxas leaves Otso Diretso and allies himself with President Duterte)

It has no text, but contains one video that can be viewed on the YouTube channel Duterte Angels.

The channel’s description reads: “Duterte angels produce content that supports the Duterte government to achieve the promise of ‘change’. We are gladly to help the government to spread the goodnews.”

The video has more than 52,000 views as of posting. It shows a man putting forward his theory on why Roxas has not been appearing with other Otso Diretso candidates.

The blog post was flagged on Facebook Claim Check as a potential hoax. It was shared by the pages Solid Sarah Z Duterte 2022, BASTE Duterte, and Duterte : Galing sa Masa Para sa Masa.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Roxas has not left the Otso Diretso coalition. Coalition campaign manager Senator Kiko Pangilinan said there’s no truth to the report.

The website dutertedefenders.net does not have an “About” page, a list of editorial board members, or contact details.

Its Facebook page is called “Kadayawan Davao,” after the city’s Kadayawan festival, but its content is political.

The Facebook page lists its website as dutertenews4network.com, which circulated a hoax that Rappler fact checked in December 2018. – Vernise L. Tantuco/Rappler.com