Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Johnny Ty Pimentel, who is running for provincial governor, debunked the false claim, while the Comelec made no announcement that the congressman was disqualified
Claim: Surigao del Sur representative Johnny Ty Pimentel’s ballot number as a candidate for provincial governor in the 2025 elections has been nullified.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The false claim was posted by a Facebook page called “Surigao del Sur Ngayon,” on a Facebook group with 40,600 members. The post has garnered 91 reactions and 31 shares as of writing.
“Just in: Usa ka wala damha na panghitabo,” the post said, going on to thank the former governor for his contributions and legacy in the province. “Opesyal na gideklara karon 4:31AM nga ang numero sa balota ni Johnny Pimentel nullified na.”
(Just in: An unbelievable event. It was officially declared today at 4:31 a.m. that Johnny Pimentel’s ballot number has been nullified.)
The photos attached to the post along with the caption’s wording make it seem like a death announcement, as it uses a gray-scale picture of a hospitalized man with the date of Pimentel’s birthday and today’s date below it. However, there is no explicit mention of Pimentel’s supposed passing.
The facts: Pimentel debunked the claim in a May 12 post, labelling a screenshot of the false post as “fake news.”
“We urge everyone to verify statements from questionable sources and think critically before believing or spreading news, especially on social media, where false information can spread rapidly,” he said in the post.
Though it is unclear what the post means when it claims that Pimentel’s ballot number has been nullified, there are no reports of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualifying Pimentel in his bid for provincial governor.
In the lead-up to the elections, however, the Comelec has repeatedly warned against false claims regarding the disqualification of candidates.
“Ayon sa Section 78 ng Omnibus Election Code, ang pagkansela ng COC ay dumadaan sa masusing proseso, may public hearing, at opisyal na ipinalalabas lamang sa pamamagitan ng COMELEC website o media advisory,” the Comelec said in a May 11 post.
(According to Section 78 of the Omnibus Election Code, the cancelling of a COC [certificate of candidacy] goes through a thorough process, including a public hearing, and a decision will only be officially released through the Comelec website or a media advisory.)
Neither the Comelec website nor media reports have confirmed any type of disqualification order against Pimentel.
Surigao del Sur’s gubernatorial race: Pimentel, who is term-limited as a district representative, is up against five other candidates. One of his most prominent opponents is former Department of Education Undersecretary Epi Densing, who Pimentel once accused of soliciting up to 18% in commissions for the approval of school building construction projects.
Densing is also part of former Surigao del Sur 1st District Rep. Prospero Pichay’s camp, former allies of the Pimentels now turned rivals.
Previous fact-checks: Rappler has published several election-related fact checks in the run-up to the May 12 elections:
– Shay Du/Rappler.com
Shay Du is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
