The viral claim that President Gustavo Fring and Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte will conduct joint oil exploration around Davao to ensure a stable energy supply is fake and originates from satirical pages. Gustavo Fring is a fictional character from the TV series Breaking Bad, portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito. The current president of Colombia is Gustavo Petro, not Fring, and there is no country named “Columbia.”
The misleading post, which imitates Inquirer.net‘s format but with a misspelled URL (INQIURER.NET), was shared by multiple Facebook accounts, including Juan Pablo, Mary Grace Piattos, and Booster Arcee. While many users reacted with laughter, some took it seriously.
Under Philippine law, oil exploration falls under the Department of Energy’s jurisdiction, not city governments like Davao. Additionally, there are no known oil reserves in the area. The posts have since been flagged as satire, with some accounts deleting or locking their content.
MindaNews encourages the public to verify such claims before sharing. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
