FALSE: Exequiel Javier 'withdraws' congressional bid in Antique

Claim: The website Philippine News Organization claimed in an article published on Friday, May 10, that Antique's former governor and ex-congressman, Exequiel Javier, has withdrawn his candidacy for congressman of the province.

The article claimed that Javier withdrew his congressional bid in the 2019 midterm elections following cases filed against him.

It further claimed that Javier "will just support his son's candidacy in the province" to prepare for and face his ongoing cases.

Rappler spotted the article via Claim Check, Facebook's fact check tool dashboard which flags potential hoaxes as dubious content so fact checkers can review them. The article has garnered 432 shares, as of this writing. It is also being shared by Facebook users in various Facebook groups such as Volunteers for Duterte and PDS (President Duterte Supporters) International 05-18-2016.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Javier remains a candidate for Antique congressman.

He dismissed the claim of his supposed withdrawal as fake. In an interview last Friday, which was posted on the Facebook page Antique sa Gihapon, Javier clarified that there's "no truth" to the claim being spread on social media.

"There's no truth to that. I see this as propaganda that may have possibly been started by my political rival [Loren] Legarda, to disadvantage me. That is how I see it, why this fake news may have started circulating. That I believe is the intention, [to hurt my poll numbers], since Legarda seems poised to lose in the upcoming elections," he said in Karay-a.

Read the full fact-check article on Rappler.com.

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