DETAILS: On its front page headline the day after the massive UniTeam rally in Cebu, the broadsheet The Philippine Star proclaimed that the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Covid cases will surge in the Philippines, reaching 300,000 active cases by May this year.
300,000, of course, was the estimated number of people who attended the Cebu UniTeam rally.
The PhilStar headline was accompanied by a photo of, what else, the Cebu rally.
Was PhilStar insinuating that the UniTeam rally was a Covid superspreader? Or was it resorting to fear-mongering to either dissuade UniTeam supporters from attending future rallies in the next three weeks, or worse, discourage people from voting on election day, May 9?
FACT CHECK: The Adobo Chronicles traced back the actual statement/press release of WHO Philippines, and indeed, there was a warning by the organization. BUT nowhere in the statement did WHO mention any number, and certainly not the number 300,000.
While WHO mentioned the increased mass gatherings due to the political campaigns and the Holy Week holidays, it never mentioned a surge that will specifically happen in May .
Here is the LINK to the WHO statement.
OUR VERDICT: The PhilStar news headline was FAKE NEWS!
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – It all started when Megastar Sharon Cuneta took to social media to complain about Senatorial candidate Sal Panelo’s singing of ”her” song, ”Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas,” at a political rally.
Unbeknownst to Cuneta, the Willy Cruz composition is a favorite of Panelo, singing it to honor his late son Carlo who was a child with special needs.
Not only did Panelo seek permission from Viva Records to sing the song, the record label has thereafter produced the candidate’s version.
The official music video of Panel’s recording has just been released by Viva. In just about 24 hours, it has garnered more than 50,000 views and 2.8K likes as of this writing.
In contrast, Cuneta’ YouTube video of one of her concerts in which she sang the same song had over 100,000 views and 1.3K views. And the Cuneta video has been up on YouTube since 2020.
Is Panelo on his way to dethroning Cuneta as the country’s megastar, and possibly a senator-megastar?
You be the judge.
The Adobo Chronicles 
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