Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos toured a branch of Filipino fast-food giant Jollibee alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a state visit to Canada in July 2026, but a quote card claiming he interpreted the company’s red branding as a show of political support is fabricated. The claim stemmed from a satirical post, and the company made no mention of any political endorsement in its account of the visit.
“I was wondering why their crew there, as well as the mascot, were wearing red; I later found out they are actually solid BBM supporters,” reads a Tagalog-language quote card shared on July 3, 2026, referring to the popular initials of Marcos, whose nickname is “Bongbong”.
The post includes a photo composite of Marcos speaking and posing alongside Carney, Jollibee employees and the chain’s bee mascot at a Vancouver branch during the Philippine leader’s official visit to Canada ( archived link).
Red is Jollibee’s signature brand colour and also the campaign colour associated with Marcos ( archived link).
Overlaid text on the image also read “Breaking News”, while the caption says: “You’re out of your mind, buddy.”
Screenshot of falsely shared post taken on July 6, 2026, with red x added by AFP
The posts surfaced on Facebook as Marcos concluded his four-day state visit to Canada, the first by a Philippine head of state in 11 years, during which Manila and Ottawa agreed to deepen cooperation in priority sectors including trade, cyber and maritime security and nuclear energy ( archived link).
Canada is home to nearly one million people of Philippine descent, the second-largest overseas Filipino community in the world ( archived link).
The posts prompted comments from users poking fun at Marcos for supposedly issuing such remarks during his trip to Canada.
“Hallucination at its finest,” one user wrote.
Another said: “He’s really not in the right frame of mind.”
However, there have been no official reports that Marcos issued such a quote.
A statement from Jollibee said Marcos’s visit was intended to highlight Jollibee’s contribution to bilateral trade and the growth of its operations in Canada, where it plans further expansion ( archived link).
It made no mention of any political affiliation or support for Marcos. Jollibee has also previously said it does not support any politician ( archived link).
Official footage of the visit shared on Carney’s official Facebook account also showed no such statement or quips from Marcos ( archived link).
Satirical post
Reverse image searches on Google found the falsely shared quote card was first posted on Facebook on July 3 by the page “Swaktong Balita”, a Tagalog-language play on the phrase “exact news”.
But the account, which identifies itself as a “digital creator” rather than a news outlet, said the post was intended as a joke.
“Disclaimer: This post is satire. It’s made for humor and commentary — not to mislead or spread false information,” its caption read.
Reverse image searches also found the photo of Marcos in a blue suit speaking at a press conference predates his visit to Canada by more than a month.
It appeared in reports by local media outlets Philstar and the Manila Bulletin on May 29 about a press briefing Marcos held at the end of his state visit to Japan (archived here and here).
It also matches a video of the press conference uploaded to You Tube by ANC on the same day ( archived link).
Screenshot comparison between falsely shared post (L) and Philstar report of Marcos’s visit to Japan (R), with the red X added by AFP
AFP has previously debunked misinformation about the Philippine president.