PTV makes waves with photoshopped Navy frigate

MANILA, Philippines — Social media users, including military enthusiasts, are calling out state-run PTV for using manipulated photos for a report on a plan to send Navy frigates to Libya.

Facebook group Philippine Defense Forces Forum on Monday posted: "Shame on you PTV for broadcasting altered photos claiming these as current assets of our Philippine Navy. You presented false and misleading information to the public" in response to an August 5 PTV "Ulat Bayan" report with the title "Planong pagpapadala ng frigate sa Libya, suportado ng CBCP."

Part of the video shows a Philippine-flagged ship that social media users have since identified as a Type 054A frigate, a type that China's People's Liberation Army Navy has been using since 2007. A photo of the Yueyang, a ship of that type, appears on the Wikipedia page for the frigate.

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Photos similar to the one used in the PTV report also appear on Concept News Central, a Makati-based company that collates news. "Responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of any and all information culled by CNC from the original sources is vested exclusively in the latter," it says on its About Us page.

A similar photo also appears on Hay16.com, a video site in Vietnamese.

PTV has yet to respond to a request for comment but the video is no longer available on YouTube.

PTV, also known as People's Television, is under the supervision of the Presidential Communications Operations Office. The office has earned a reputation for making blunders, including using the wrong names for a senator and for the Kingdom of Norway.

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The PCOO is seeking a budget of P1.41 billion for 2019.