An edited video featuring a photo collage of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. circulating online is alleging that he was carrying a “septic tank” while attending a public event. This is false.
The images in the video were taken from a Feb. 5 photo from the Presidential Communications Office on Facebook and a screenshot from a video posted on the same date on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s Facebook page.
An FB page posted the video on Feb. 7 with the caption:
“Dati sa bahay lang,ngayon bitbit na niya😆
(Before, it was only at home, now he carries it around😆).”
A supposed female news anchor could be heard in the video, saying:
“Buhay pa pala ‘yan, ha ha! Ay astig, gumaling na pala. Pero mukhang may bitbit na septic tank ba
(He’s still alive, ha ha! Oh cool, he has recovered. But does it look like he’s carrying a septic tank)?”
Similarly cropped images highlighted a seemingly protruding area on Marcos’ lower abdomen. Certain users used them to allege that he was wearing a colostomy bag during the Philippine Telecommunication Summit 2026 on Feb. 5, which marked his first public appearance after a “diverticulitis” health scare.
Using reverse image search, one of the images in the video was traced back from a Feb. 5 photo the Presidential Communications Office posted on FB, where Marcos is seen doing a high five with a robot.
The other photo was a snippet from a Feb. 5 video from the Bilyonaryo News Channel’s FB page, where he could be seen entering the venue with Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda.
Malacañang has dismissed “rumors and gossip,” particularly those from former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who insinuated that the president has “colon cancer.”
“We saw the full video, where the president raised his hands while waving to our countrymen. It is clearly visible that the picture Harry Roque showed is entirely false,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters in Filipino Feb. 11.
Both the Presidential Communications Office and the St. Luke’s Medical Center confirmed that a medical report in circulation earlier was “fake” and “falsified.”
As of writing, the false video published by Facebook page Team Lasang has received over 28,000 reactions; 2,600 comments; and 969,000 views.
