FACT-CHECK: Filipinos arrested in Qatar due to illegal assembly

CLAIM: Filipinos were arrested in Qatar during a political gathering due to expired residence permits and visas.

RATING: FALSE

TikTok videos falsely claimed that the 17 Filipinos arrested in Qatar during a pro-Duterte rally on March 28 were detained due to expired QIDs or residence permits and visas.

These videos were reposted on Facebook, along with text-only posts making the same false claim.

Department of Migrant Workers Secretary (DMW) Hans Leo Cacdac reiterated in a press briefing that the 17 individuals were arrested for alleged “illegal assembly or gathering without a permit” and “gatherings that potentially disturb public security.”

On the day of the arrests, the official Facebook page of the Philippine Embassy in Qatar reposted a March 13 advisory reminding Filipino nationals in the country to comply with local laws and customs, particularly those related to mass demonstrations.

The caption of the post confirms that the embassy was “aware that several Filipino nationals have been arrested and detained.”

One of the TikTok videos has garnered 19.4k reactions and 4,120 comments. Regner Atutubo

PressOne.PH is a verified signatory of the Code of Principles of the International Fact -Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter. The code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network is a series of commitments organizations abide by to promote excellence in fact-checking. We believe nonpartisan and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument of accountability journalism..

PressOne.PH believes that fact-checking is essential to combating misinformation and disinformation, and in informing and educating citizens and voters. Read more of PressOne.PH’s Fact-Checking Policy by clicking here.

The public is welcome to send feedback or requests for fact-checks at factcheck@pressone.ph.

If you believe PressOne.PH is violating the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), you may submit a complaint directly to the IFCN website: https://ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/complaints-policy

<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1535372364357523" data-ad-slot="8956430836" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});