FACT CHECK | Iligan boy beaten by high schoolers is alive, viral video is unrelated

A nine-year-old boy in Iligan City who was beaten by five high school students on August 4 is alive and recovering, contrary to viral posts falsely claiming he died. 

These claims are false, and several posts on an unverified video of another child being beaten up  and linked to the Iligan case are misleading. 

MindaNews is fact-checking these claims because the false posts remain online and continues to mislead the public even weeks after the post was already debunked.

The boy from Iligan City was on his way home when he was beaten by five older students. 

Days later, he developed a fever and was rushed to Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City, where he was confined in the Intensive Care Unit. 

The boy survived. His aunt, Analou V. Lorenzana, confirmed that he has since recovered and even returned to school.

The false death claims quickly spread across Facebook, prompting the boy’s relatives to speak out. Bernadette Navarro Minoza, who earlier made a public appeal for prayers and financial help for the boy’s treatment, also updated her followers on his recovery and criticized vloggers for spreading false news:

False reports of his death have been widely shared across Facebook. 

Richard Gumia Grande’s post, which claimed the boy had died, drew 253 reactions, 219 comments and 89 shares as of September 3, 2:07 pm. 

Peninsula News Exposed also posted the same claim and garnered 42 reactions, 13 comments, and 16 shares before removal.

A member of the public group Bisaya Bitter Quotes also claimed the boy had died, gaining 124 reactions, 72 comments, and 70 shares before removal as well.

Beshy Vlog Lumasag also contributed to the false claims receiving 33 reactions, 32 comments, and 31 shares as of September 3, 1:36 p.m.  

Analou, the boy’s aunt, mass-reported these posts in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation. She condemned vloggers for exploiting the child’s condition for views, saying that instead of encouraging him, they were “killing” him with fake news. 

This is not the first time the boy’s case has been exploited for clicks.

Facebook users also circulated an unrelated video of a boy being beaten, falsely claiming it was the boy in Iligan. Bernadette debunked this on Aug. 9, posting side-by-side images of the boy in the ICU and screenshots from the viral footage with the caption:

“FYI!! The kid featured in the video is different from the one admitted to the ICU. Hindi po siya ang nasa video!”

Despite the clarification, the false claim spread widely.

Marites Philippines posted screenshots of the footage and Bernadette’s photos of the boy, gathering 1,000 reactions, 608 comments, and 2,500 shares as of 12:56 p.m. on August 12.
Update 

A reel by Joy Apol that combined screenshots from the clip and photos of the boy in the ICU accumulated 251,000 views, 1,100 reactions, 405 comments and 1,300 shares as of 4:02 pm on September 3.

Kenny Mark Severino’s post with the same claim drew about 1,400 reactions, 317 comments and 285 shares as of 4:05 pm on September 3.

The beating clip itself also went viral. Jomari Villamor’s upload of the video reached some 23 million views, 18,300 comments and 61,600 shares before removal. 

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public for potential fact-check stories. (Zoe R. Hontiveros / MindaNews)