A picture circulating online of supposed beneficiaries of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) receiving free air conditioning units is fake. It was created using artificial intelligence.
The DSWD dismissed the post, saying 4Ps does not give away household appliances.
Originally published by a Facebook user on April 28, the photo depicted several alleged 4Ps beneficiaries. Among them were four women carrying the giveaway inverter split-type air conditioning units, another four boxes of the appliance in front of them, and a banner in the background bearing the DSWD logo and a text:
“4Ps BENEFICIARIES FREE AIRCON FROM THE GOVERNMENT
SERBISYONG TAMA, PARA SA PAMILYANG PILIPINO (Proper service for Filipino families)”
The user captioned the post:
“May 8k na may aircon pa
Bawal magutom at mainitan ang ating mga 4Ps
(With P8,000 and even an air conditioner, our 4Ps beneficiaries should not go hungry or endure the heat)”
From April 29 to May 4, multiple users and pages have reposted either the bogus photo itself or a screenshot of the April 28 post.
The DSWD, in a May 4 advisory, dismissed the post, stating that the “AI-generated” photo contained “false information that can mislead the public.”
The agency clarified that 4Ps is a conditional cash transfer program that provides financial assistance to beneficiaries, and that it does not include the unofficial distribution of any household appliance or products.
Several red flags and insights from an expert and detection tools indicate that the picture is indeed AI-made.
VERA Files found some visual indicators pointing to the use of AI in creating this image, including:
- The use of a different and fake 4Ps logo
- A seeming glitch in the two faces of the people behind the woman in a white shirt
- The unnaturally elongated fingers of the woman in pink shirt while carrying the air conditioner
An expert from the Deepfakes Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance likewise pointed out the last two visual discrepancies—”two faces melding” and “sausage fingers”—noting that “this image is likely AI-generated.”
The DAU ran the photo through six detection tools but only AI or Not directly flagged it as 95% likely created with AI. VERA Files also checked it with another tool, Decopy AI, and the results showed it is 100% likely AI-generated.
The AI-generated photo began circulating amid public backlash over high electricity bills, with some netizens criticizing Meralco for collecting power charges for the lifeline rate subsidy program.
The “pass-through” charges for the lifeline rate are used as subsidies given to the 4Ps beneficiaries, as mandated by Republic Act 11552 or the Expanded Lifeline Rate Law, Meralco vice president Joe Zaldarriaga was quoted as saying in an April 26 GMA News Online report.
Spread by several FB users and pages, such as Saksaksinagol Dumaguete (created on May 7, 2019 as Saksaksinagol) and Vlognikosa (created on Nov. 6, 2020 as Inspiquotes), the posts carrying the fake photo collectively garnered 2,350 reactions; 1,230 comments and 1,376 shares as of writing.
