Claim: Parts of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) were flooded due to Severe Tropical Storm Enteng, as shown in a video.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The video can be found on a September 2 Facebook Reels post by user Ma Loreza Villanil. The post states: “Kaya pala cancel mga flight (This was why flights were canceled) … keep safe everyone” and includes the hashtag #bagyonginteng [sic]. As of writing, the post has around 1,200 reactions, 1,000 comments, and 3,700 shares.
The post was also shared on September 3 on the Facebook account of Alex Paul Monteagudo, former director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
The facts: The flooding shown in the Facebook Reels video was not due to Severe Tropical Storm Enteng. The same footage can be seen in at least two videos taken in July 2024, one from a social media user and a contributed video posted by The Manila Times. At the time, it was Typhoon Carina, along with the southwest monsoon, that ravaged the Philippines, not Severe Tropical Storm Enteng. Multiple flights were canceled due to the flooding in NAIA back then.
Severe Tropical Storm Enteng: Enteng (Yagi), the Philippines’ fifth tropical cyclone for 2024, brought moderate to torrential rain in Luzon and Eastern Visayas. It started as a low pressure area inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and then became a tropical depression on September 1, later intensifying into a severe tropical storm.
Enteng left the PAR on September 4 but continues to enhance the southwest monsoon or habagat.
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Previous related fact-checks: Rappler regularly fact-checks false claims about natural calamities; most are about storms, earthquakes, and volcanic activity.
Monteagudo has also been known to spread false information online even during his stint as NICA director general. Rappler had fact-checked a claim shared online by Monteagudo that former Kabataan Partylist representative Sarah Elago’s One Young World Politician of the Year 2020 Award was given by the Communist Party of the Philippines committee in London. – Percival Bueser/ Rappler.com
Percival Bueser is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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