Guinness World Records debunks pro-Marcos-Sara page's 'longest motorcade' claim: 'This information is incorrect'
Guinness World Records (GWR) has debunked a false claim from a Facebook page supportive of presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio—that the tandem holds the world record for the "longest motorcade caravan." The page in question, meanwhile, has already deleted the fraudulent post after media organizations picked up the story.
In its now-deleted March 26 post, the "Bbm-Sara Uniteam Headquarters Northern Luzon, Crown Legacy Hotel Baguio" shared an edited photo of Marcos Jr.'s portrait with the GWR logo and certificate, with a text that falsely claimed "The Longest Motorcade Caravan in the Philippines."
In another photo containing the GWR logo, it stated: "BBM CARAVAN LIGHTS RECORD BREAKING NA NAMAN" and "BBM CARAVAN ILOCOS NOTER (sic)."
It also shared photos of motorists and a supposed sea of UniTeam supporters who attended the tandem's event. It didn't specify where the would-be event took place.
The GWR, through its verified Facebook page, debunked the falsehood in a comment: "This information is incorrect." It got over 86,000 reactions to date.
The GWR's official Twitter account also quote tweeted a user's screenshot of its comment on the pro-UniTeam Facebook page.
not here to waste anyone's time https://t.co/kuBdlMswoA
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 30, 2022
"Not here to waste anyone's time," the award-giving body wrote.
The GWR previously made headlines as it removed from its website its entry on the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos for committing the "greatest robbery of a government."
“The government of the Philippines announced on 23 Apr 1986 that it had succeeded in identifying $860.8 million (£569.5 million) salted away by the former President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1917–89) and his wife Imelda. The total national loss from November 1965 was believed to be $5–$10 billion,” the deleted entry read.
In deleting the entry, the GWR said it re-examine records that have not been recently researched and verified to ensure that it is up-to-date, accurate and compatible with their values.
It also made its case in a Twitter reply to Rappler, which shared a photo of the printed copy of the 1995 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records containing the entry.
(cont) as up-to-date, and therefore it will be re-examined to ensure its accuracy. 2/2
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) March 15, 2022
"We're not disputing this record as a historical fact, nor are we disputing that we monitored the record title and published it in our books and online," the GWR said, in response to claims of some pro-Marcos groups that the entry was retracted due to Marcos Sr.'s greatest robbery of a government being untrue.
(Editor's note: The story has been updated to indicate that the "Bbm-Sara Uniteam Headquarters Northern Luzon, Crown Legacy Hotel Baguio" Facebook page has deleted its false post.)