Rappler Report "President Duterte to Appoint Nikki Prieto-Teodoro as DSWD Secretary" is Fake News?

As the entire Philippines now knows, the Commission on Appointments (CA) has rejected the appointment of Judy Taguiwalo as DSWD secretary on Wednesday, August 16. But while tons of netizens are quesitoning the CA members who voted 'No,' Rappler reported that President Rodrigo Duterte will appoint Nikki Prieto-Teodoro as DSWD secretary.




"President Rodrigo Duterte plans to appoint Monica "Nikki" Prieto-Teodoro as social welfare secretary if Judy Taguiwalo fails to get the nod of the Commission on Appointments (CA)." A statement reads at Rappler, published on Wednesday, 1:50 pm, written by Pia Ranada. The said report was apparently updated, a few seconds later.

"The CA rejected the appointment of Taguiwalo, a former martial law activist and University of the Philippines professor, on Wednesday, August 16. Duterte bared his plans after meeting with Teodoro and her husband, former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr, on Tuesday evening, August 15, in Malacañang." Rappler's report added.

"During their meeting, Mrs Teodoro turned over a donation to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Also present were Taguiwalo herself and AFP chief General Eduardo Año. Mrs Teodoro formerly served as representative of the first district of Tarlac, a post previously occupied by her husband." The report reads at the last part, and had two comments.

Must Read: * Renato Reyes Blames President Duterte Over CA Rejection of Judy Taguiwalo as DSWD Secretary

But on the contrary, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement that President Duterte is still looking for Taguiwalo's replacement. Interestingly, his statement was posted at Office of the Presidential Spokesperson Facebook page at 3:02 pm, Wednesday, more than an hour after the report of Rappler's Pia Ranada was published.

Meanwhile, RJ Nieto aka Thinking Pinoy wrote on his Facebook page that "Rappler published Rañada's article in the middle of CA deliberations and a full 18 minutes before the actual announcement of Taguiwalo's CA rejection, as shown by DSWD Asec. Badoy's post timestamped 2:08 pm. Badoy was right beside Taguiwalo during the entire CA hearing."



As of posting, Pia Ranada and Rappler have not yet released an official statement about their questionable news report. And despite the fact that it has already been deleted, we assume that many netizens have already read it and were misinformed. Ironically, Rappler is one of the mainstream media outlets that warns the public about the spreading of fake news.

Contributed by Renato Pasayao