FACT CHECK | Viral ‘Jay sonza’ earthquake photos are partly false; MDRMMO verifying other locations

DAVAO CITY — Facebook page ‘Jay sonza’ has gone viral for supposed photos of the destruction in Manay, Davao Oriental caused by the double quakes that happened last October 10. 

Some of the photos are false, and have been reused from previous posts; some were photos from years ago. 

The rest of the photos, according to the Manay Municipal Disaster Reduction, Response and Management Office, were still for verification as of Saturday, Oct. 11. 

As of 9 a.m., Oct. 15, the post received 1.6k shares, 580 comments, and thousands of reactions. 

The post reads:

“EARLY IMAGES OF THE IMPACT OF THE 7.6 magnitude Quake in the east coast of Davao Region. My father and three of my older brothers first settled in San Ignacio, Manay, Davao Oriental. Kaya ang balitang nagkaroon ng malakas na pagyanig ay isang malaking balita para sa aming pamilya. Our adoptive brothers Mandaya tribesmen Percelito and Andronico Macombo were born in this area.

Here are some of the early images we gathered from Manay, Davao Oriental from various neighbors and other sources – malalaking bato, boulders ang bumagsak mula sa kabundukan, nagkabitak-bitak ang kalsada, most of the roads remain not passable at this hour. Sketchy reports of death and missing have reach us too.” 

MindaNews used Google’s reverse image search tool to verify whether the images were indeed from the Manay earthquake and found that at least three were reused.

At least one is a screenshot from a video of an older earthquake in Leyte. 

One of the photos was taken in April 2016, during a quake that hit Pakistan and India. 

_{One of the photos was recycled from a screenshot of an earthquake in Davao de Oro on March 2023.}

^{Another photo likewise comes from a January 23, 2023 earthquake in Southern Leyte.}

MindaNews received copies of similar photos from Manay in Davao Oriental, from a visiting artist who was stranded in Hagimit, Manay, Davao Oriental.

_{A landslide isolated residents of Hagimit, Manay, Davao Oriental and cut off power. Residents say they still have no running water. Contributed photo by Princess Taroza}

It’s not clear whether the Jay sonza page is owned by former broadcaster Jay Sonza. 

There is a verified Jay Sonza profile with friends from local and national media among its friends list. 

The verified Jay Sonza profile appears to be legitimate, and appears unconnected to the ‘Jay sonza’ page. 

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