VERA Files
A YouTube video claims that New Zealand recently handed over its warship HMNZS Aotearoa to the Philippines. This is false.
Posted on Feb. 14, the eight-minute and eight-second video’s headline read:
“Nakatanggap muli ang Philippine Navy ng Super Power Warship mula sa New Zealand (The Philippine Navy again received a Super Power Warship from New Zealand).”
The video thumbnail also featured HMNZS Aotearoa bearing two Philippine flags. An automated narration reported about the ship’s supposed turnover to the Philippine Navy and how its personnel were trained on how to operate it. It also claims that the ship was used during a “tense incident” in Philippine waters.
This is not true. HMNZS Aotearoa, a polar-class sustainment vessel commissioned in 2020, is still in active service under the Royal New Zealand Navy, according to the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) website.
The Philippine Navy’s website and social media channels (here, here, here and here) made no reports about any purchase or receipt of the battleship either.
The bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and New Zealand cover various areas of cooperation, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), pandemic response, and climate change. There are no military acquisition or transfer agreements of that sort.
According to the Philippines Department of National Defense, both countries have so far committed “to strengthening defense relations through conduct of bilateral dialogue and training exchanges between the armed forces, particularly on urban warfare.”
Last year, HMNZS Aotearoa docked in Manila from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, only for a goodwill visit, where the two countries held a Maneuvering Exercise, Replenishment-At-Sea Approaches, and Passing Exercise outside Manila Bay.
According to the NZDF, HMNZS Aotearoa returned to Devonport Naval Base last December after its deployment to the Indo-Pacific.
The photo in the thumbnail was digitally manipulated to show the Philippine flags. RNZN’s Facebook (FB) page uploaded the original image in May 2021.
The video by YouTube channel TECH-89M’(created on Nov. 13, 2019) has drawn 13,055 views as of writing and has been shared on FB. VERA Files Fact Check recently debunked another video from this channel similarly claiming that the Philippines received a warship from the British Royal Navy. (Read The British Royal Navy is NOT gifting a warship to the PH)
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
