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Claim: The University of the Philippines – Manila posted an ad for XIMonth Bee Venom Advanced Joint and Bone Care Cream, a product that claims to cure joint diseases, on its Facebook page.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook page that posted the ad is named “University of the Philippines Hospital + Home.” It used the UP Manila logo as its profile picture and a collage photo of heritage buildings on the campus as its cover photo. As of writing, the ad has over 1.2 million views, 7,500 reactions, and 1,100 comments.
The ad shows a video of Manila Doctors Hospital internist-cardiologist Dr. Anthony Leachon endorsing the product. The post also includes a link to a website showing the product and multiple edited photos of Leachon.
Fake page: The page that posted the ad is fake. The official Facebook page of UP Manila has over 104,000 likes and 122,000 followers with the uniform resource locator (URL) “https://www.facebook.com/UPManilaOfficial.”
The page that posted the ad has only 82 likes and 126 followers. Its URL is also generic and comprised of a mixture of alphanumeric characters.
The link included in the ad redirects to a website with the URL “health24h.asia,” not the official website of UP Manila with the URL “https://www.upm.edu.ph/.”
Unauthorized by Leachon: Leachon told Rappler via a Viber message that the ad is “fake.”
The ad used a clip from Leachon’s RESETa October 16 post about leptospirosis. Nowhere in the original video did the doctor mention XIMonth Bee Venom Advanced Joint and Bone Care Cream.
Unregistered product: The product endorsed in the post is also not on the Philippine Food and Drug Administration’s list of registered products.
Previously debunked claims: Rappler has previously fact-checked ads that use the names of various health experts and UP Manila to deceptively make their ads look trustworthy to consumers:
- FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong’s name, videos used in fake ads for Glufarelin (July 21, 2023)
- FACT CHECK: Fake quote from diabetes expert used to promote Glufarelin (July 11, 2023)
- FACT CHECK: Glufarelin not endorsed by PGH, US doctor as diabetes cure (May 12, 2023)
- FACT CHECK: Neither PGH nor US expert endorses Glufarelin as diabetes cure (April 26, 2023)
- FACT CHECK: Quote cards about diabetes used to promote Glufarelin fabricated (April 6, 2023)
- FACT CHECK: NIH, Leachon do not endorse Glufarelin as diabetes cure (March 27, 2023)
– Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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