A video circulating online shows former president Rodrigo Duterte asking for prayers and support for his daughter, Vice President Sara, who is facing an impeachment trial and criminal charges. This is fake and was manipulated using artificial intelligence.
The two-minute clip has been shared by several social media accounts since Sept. 16, when Duterte personally appeared for the first time before the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he is accused of crimes against humanity.
In the video, Duterte is heard thanking his followers and saying:
“Mayroon sana akong isang malaking kahilingan sa inyong lahat…Sana ay patuloy ninyong suportahan si Inday sa bawat laban at pagsubok na kanyang kinaharap. Ang inyong panalangin, suporta at pagmamahal ay napakalaking bagay para sa kanya at para sa aming pamilya.
Kung maaari, ibahagi ninyo ang video na ito upang mas marami pang tao ang makapanalangin para kay Inday. Bawat panalangin ay mahalaga. Bawat suporta ay nagbibigay ng lakas.
(“I have one important request for all of you…I hope you will continue to support Inday through every struggle and challenge she faces. Your prayers, support, and love mean so much to her and to our family.
If possible, please share this video so that more people can pray for Inday. Every prayer matters. Every bit of support gives strength.)”
There is no official record of Duterte making such remarks on his personal or his family’s official social media channels or even on the ICC’s case portal and FB page.
A reverse image search revealed that the video was originally published by FB page Edd AI, who labeled the post as “AI-generated” and “satire.”
VERA Files tapped the Deepfakes Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance to get expert opinion on the use of AI in the clip. While detection tools Hiya, Aurigin AI, and Hive AI audio classifier did not flag the video’s audio as AI-generated, Hive AI deepfake detector showed “several markers of AI-based tampering in the video track.”
DAU’s manual analysis, as shown in the series of infographics below, further noted “a strong probability of manipulation using artificial intelligence.”
Asked if there could be original media content fed to an AI tool to manipulate it, an expert from the DAU said “[i]t is likely that a still photo of [Duterte] was used to make the clip.” Another telltale sign of AI use is the complete stillness of Duterte’s body and hands with only his mouth and face moving, they noted.
Based on photos released by ICC, Duterte wore a black suit and white polo during the third pre-trial conference. One of these photos may have been used to create the AI-manipulated clip.
VERA Files previously fact-checked a similar item in which an AI-made video message of fugitive and resigned Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co was uploaded by the same FB page with 3.3 million followers. The video was reposted by several users with the disclaimer omitted.
The earliest copy of the Duterte reel without the AI use disclaimer was published by pro-Duterte TikTok account 👸🏼KilikiliQueen 2.0🫰💚 two hours after the original post. As of writing, it has been viewed over 209,000 times and received 21,566 engagements. Other copies have since circulated on FB and Instagram.
