A Facebook post is claiming that the 15-year-old suspect in the Tacloban school shooting will be imprisoned for life. This is false.
The post published on June 27 contains an AI-generated video with the caption:
“Ang 15 years old na estudyanteng namaril sa Tacloban City ay makukulong habang buhay.”
(The 15-year-old student who carried out the shooting in Tacloban City will be imprisoned for life.)
In the video, the AI-generated voice says:
“Isa sa namaril sa San Jose National High School na fifteen years old ay maari daw makulong panghabangbuhay. Aba’y dapat lang. Dapat nga ay silang dalawa. Planado, kalkulado, at desidido silang dalawa nung ginawa nila yan. At sa mga magulang ng dalawang to, utang na loob, ‘wag kayong mag-anak kung di niyo kayang bantayan dahil nagiging pasakit at problema lang sa lipunan.”
(They say the 15-year-old shooter at San Jose National High School could face life imprisonment. Well, that’s only right. In fact, both of them should. What they did was planned, calculated, and deliberate. And to the parents of these two, for goodness’ sake, don’t have children if you can’t properly watch over and guide them, because they only end up becoming a burden and a problem to society.)
Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, the teenager could be held criminally liable.
The Philippine National Police in Eastern Visayas has filed multiple criminal charges against the 15-year-old student with the alias “Rod.”
Children aged 15 to 17 may be held criminally liable if prosecutors can prove they acted with discernment. Prosecutors must establish that the 15-year-old understood the consequences of his actions.
Under Section 38 of the same law, he is a minor and may be entitled to a suspended sentence upon conviction, which means he will not be immediately committed to prison.
Meanwhile, Section 39 of the law provides that the court may dismiss the case and grant a final discharge to a child who was given a suspended sentence if a social worker certifies that all rehabilitation goals have been successfully completed.
Until a court issues a final judgment and sentence, life imprisonment remains only a possibility that depends on the legal proceedings, not a certainty.
VERA Files Fact Check further asked the Deepfakes Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance to verify if the clip was made using AI.
According to the DAU, the results from AI-detection tool AI or Not showed that the video has an 81% likelihood of being made with AI and a 93% possibility of being a deepfake. Meanwhile, results from Sight Engine show that the video used 31% face manipulation.
A closer look at the footage also highlights several visual inconsistencies, such as the audio-to-lip lag, unnatural blinking, and the robotic stare, which are primarily the basis for a deepfake claim.
These fake posts surfaced after the school shooting at San Jose National High School on June 22 that killed three students and left 20 others injured. The case has drawn attention to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, which exempts children aged 15 and below from criminal liability while requiring intervention and rehabilitation measures.
Posted by FB users with 173,000 followers, the false post has so far garnered 5,732 reactions, 579 comments, and 754 shares.