The photo was manipulated to make the Lacoste crocodile logo appear larger than it really was.
CLAIM: Marcos wore a shirt with a large Lacoste crocodile logo while casting his vote.
RATING: FALSE
In the Philippines, crocodiles are associated with corruption. Buwaya, the Filipino word for crocodile, is used to refer to politicians who take advantage of their power for their own interests.
That is why social media users poked fun at a manipulated photo of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who was wearing a polo shirt with a larger-than-usual Lacoste crocodile logo.
Twitter user @syltrltgtr, who identifies as a “full-time volunteer troll,” posted the manipulated photo on Twitter and got nearly 5,000 retweets and 32,000 likes. The altered photo included the caption, “Akala ko po ba bawal ang damit na may mukha ng kandidato? Bakit nakalusot ito?” (I thought wearing clothes with the faces of candidates is prohibited? Why did this get through?)
The image is a manipulated version of Rappler’s photo of Marcos earlier today when he cast his vote at the Mariano Marcos Memorial Elementary School in Batac, Ilocos Norte. The manipulated photograph made it appear that the crocodile on Marcos’s shirt was larger than it really was.
The Marcoses are known for pocketing billions of pesos in taxpayers’ money during the regime of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of Bongbong.
In 2003, the Supreme Court forfeited more than $658 million in Marcos ill-gotten wealth found in bank deposits in Switzerland.
Ex-first lady Imelda Marcos was found guilty of seven counts of graft in 2018 in connection with illegal private Swiss foundations, which had at least $200 million in assets.
The family also owes a P203-billion estate tax debt to the Philippine government.
