"Malacanang's new scheme to avoid talk about the staggering prices of fuel and food because they can no longer control businessmen from hiking the price of goods," reads part of the Tagalog-language post shared on Facebook on April 8, 2026, referring to the Philippine presidential office.
"Breaking news: President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer," reads the attached graphic bearing the logos of Philippine news outlets GMA News, ABS-CBN News and News5.
"Malacanang confirms the President is undergoing treatment and is in the care of a team of medical specialists," it goes on to say.
The graphic was widely shared across Facebook -- racking up more than 30,000 shares -- and fanned speculation about the state of Marcos's health, which started in January after he was hospitalised for an inflammation of the colon (archived link).
The rumours surged again after Marcos skipped an event with returning overseas Filipino workers on the morning of April 6. They were immediately shot down by his office's press officer Claire Castro, who said he was merely busy with other meetings and engagements (archived here and here).
But comments from users suggest they believed the supposed announcement is real.
"His reign of evil is about to end," one user wrote.
Another said: "He is trying to evade accountability by hiding behind an illness."
But the claim is fabricated, as a search on the websites of GMA News, ABS-CBN and News5 did not find reports on the...
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