A glitch in Philippine broadcaster News5’s election day coverage has been misrepresented online as proof that the poll agency Comelec manipulated results. The news network said a “graphics error” paired the wrong names with pictures of Senate hopefuls, and results aired by other media included no such mistake.
“God Comelec! It’s Atty.Vic’s name but Bam’s face?” reads a Facebook post shared May 13, 2025, referring to candidate Vic Rodriguez and newly elected Senator Bam Aquino.
“Did you swap their votes? You panicked while switching votes so you made this mistake?”
The post includes a news graphic titled: “Bilang Pilipino 2025 Senatorial Race”. It depicts votes received by six Senate bets.
However, the pictures and names do not match. The candidate ranked first, for example, has incumbent Senator Christopher Go’s photo but is labelled Willie Revillame.
Similar posts rocketed across Facebook and TikTok a day after the archipelago nation’s mid-term vote, which was largely defined by the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte (archived link).
The dozen senators chosen nationally will form half the jury in Duterte’s July trial that could see her permanently barred from public office (archived link).
Comments on the posts indicate some people believed the graphic was proof Comelec rigged the votes.
“Comelec’s deception busted,” one reads.
Another says “Garcia must be held accountable,” referring to poll body chairman George Garcia.
A keyword search on Google for “Bilang Pilipino 2025” found the faulty graphic in News5’s live election night broadcast on Facebook (archived link).
Read the full story on AFP Fact Check.