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Claim: Santa Rosa City Representative Dan Fernandez said, “The Igorot is not Filipino” in his speech in Congress.
Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
Why we fact-checked this: The video clip bearing the claim has spread widely on social media, where users accused Fernandez of being ignorant or discriminatory. The video has garnered over 1.2 million views on Facebook, along with 4,900 reactions, 4,300 comments, and 1,600 shares.
Text superimposed on the video reads: “Sir Dan yung Aeta (Baluga) po sa Pampanga Pinoy po ba sila?” (Sir Dan, are the Aetas in Pampanga Filipino?) and “The Igorot is not a Filipino?”
The clip ends abruptly after Fernandez says, “The fact remains that the Igorot is not Filipino, and we…” reinforcing the impression that the statement came directly from him.
The facts: The viral video lacks context. The phrase “The Igorot is not Filipino” was a direct quote from Filipino diplomat Carlos P. Romulo’s 1943 memoir Mother America. On page 59 of the book, Romulo wrote: “The fact remains that the Igorot is not Filipino and we are not related. It hurts our feelings to see him pictured in American newspapers under such captions as ‘Typical Filipino Tribesman.’”
Fernandez referenced the quote in his privilege speech in Congress on July 31, 2023, to highlight how colonial and postcolonial narratives once excluded indigenous peoples from the idea of national identity. While the spliced clip used in the social media posts suggests a discriminatory remark from Fernandez, in the full clip he praised how indigenous peoples were able to preserve their original culture and tradition.
Shortly after citing Romulo, Fernandez emphasized the need to reexamine pre-colonial Filipino identity, saying that this “original culture” would have been the country’s culture today if it were not colonized by Spain.
His broader argument centered on the theory that the Philippines is the biblical land of Ophir. Historians have weighed in on Fernandez’s statements. (READ: In lengthy speech, congressman rambles about theory on ancient Philippines)
Controversial quote: There has been criticism regarding the quote attributed to Romulo. According to a 2016 Sunstar article, the late Alfredo Lam-en — former representative of the 1st District of the old Mountain Province — delivered a privilege speech in the 1960s while wearing traditional Igorot attire to condemn Romulo’s statement.
In 2016, Mountain Province Representative Maximo Dalog asked the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to correct Romulo’s historical account.
Spliced media: Rappler has fact-checked other misleading posts in which video clips and photos were spliced or taken out of context, leading to misleading interpretations.
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– Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com
Efren Cyril Bocar is a student journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar, enrolled in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. A managing editor of Amaranth, Cyril is a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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