Philippine political party Akbayan has not recently staged a rally calling for the impeachment of President Ferdinand Marcos. An image of the purported demonstration that spread on Facebook and TikTok is manipulated.
The doctored picture was shared on Facebook on May 15, 2025. It appears to depict protesters carrying banners with the text “Impeach PBBM”, the popular initials for Marcos.
“These left-leaning rebels wanted the ‘Kakampinks’ to win in the senate because they can control them. So that they can easily take over government as President,” the post says.
“Kakampink” refers to allies and supporters of former vice president Leni Robredo, who lost the presidential race to Marcos in 2022.
The image — which features members of the Akbayan and Magdalo political parties — also surfaced on TikTok days after the former secured several seats in Congress in the May 12 mid-term elections (archived link).
However, Akbayan told AFP on May 19 that it “did not stage an impeach BBM rally” and that “the picture is edited.”
A reverse image search on Google found similar photos and footage captured during an earlier demonstration on January 31.
Photos from Getty Images and clips from local news outlets including The Manila Times, ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin show the text on the placards originally read: “Impeach Sara!” (archived here, here, here, here).
Read the full story on AFP Fact Check.