MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 5, 2013) – A controversial Filipino senator, who was linked to an alleged government fund scam, fell victim to a satirical news which reported that U.S. authorities arrested him at the San Francisco International Airport for smuggling a huge amount of money.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada whose real name is José Pimentel Ejército, Jr., thought the news report was genuine, denied he was arrested. The satirical article posted on “So, What’s News?” can be accessed on this URL http://sowhatsnews.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/jinggoy-estrada-arrested-after-trying-to-smuggle-money-inside-his-breast-to-us/.
The report also branded Estrada as “sexy” apparently referring to an unnamed legislator who had been accused of having shady dealings with self-made billionaire Janet Napoles, whose fake nongovernmental organizations were allegedly used as conduit to channel funds for government projects.
Estrada flew to the U.S. to accompany his wife Precy who is seeking medical opinion for a lump on her breast.
“Officials inside San Francisco International Airport detained and arrested Senator Jinggoy Estrada, after the lawmaker tried to get past customs while in possession of huge amounts of money. Estrada, who came to San Francisco via a connecting flight from Hong Kong, was initially reported to accompany his wife to the United States, to seek a second opinion from US-based doctors for a lump in his wife’s breast.”
“But it turns out, his wife was not with him on the trip, and it was the senator instead who had a lump on his breast. Airport authorities grew suspicious of the senator after they noticed him all sweaty, jumpy and saw a noticeable bulge on the upper-body-area of his clothes… Estrada apparently introduced himself as the sexy senator from the Philippines and that the bulge on his chest was the result of intense workout regimen he undertook months prior,” the news read.
It added: “Estrada flip-flopped and told him that he was seeking medical advice from US doctors for the said lumps. That’s when airport officials decided to frisk him…Upon closer inspection with the help of a scalpel, they discovered bundles of money hidden inside Estrada’s ‘muscles’ and skin, that the senator was trying to bring in to the country…We counted millions worth of Pesos that we suspect belongs to the Filipinos.”
So, What’s News? is a satirical and fictional news website. “Our aim is to inject humor into everyday news to provide respite to readers who have grown weary with mainstream news organization’s partisan, biased and depressing way of presenting the news,” a notice on its website reads. (Mindanao Examiner)
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