A “sponsored” advertisement on Facebook claims that Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto is endorsing and encouraging the public to try online gambling platforms. This is fake.
The audio in the clip was likely generated using artificial intelligence. Sotto has denied the fabricated post with a warning to the public about “fake AI-generated videos promoting scams.”
Published as early as October by an FB page, the 47-second video carried what sounded like the voice of Sotto, saying:
“Mga kaibigan, ako si Vico Sotto. Gusto ko lang kayong paalalahanan, tigilan na natin ang mga fake slot apps. Kamakailan nirekommenda ng [Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center] sa MetaCity ang halos 20 influencer para sa aksyon dahil nagpo-promote sila ng mga pekeng online gambling platform na kumikita habang nalulugi ang mga kababayan natin. Marami rin hindi nakapag-cashout ng panalo.
Kaya kung gusto mong maglaro ng legit at safe, subukan mo ang game sa link sa baba. Licensed, secure, may mataas na bonus, garantisadong cashout via GCash at win rate na hanggang 78%. Pero tandaan laging maglaro ng responsable.
Madali lang kumita ng P10,000 kada araw kung may diskarte. Try mo na ngayon.”
(Friends, I’m Vico Sotto. I just want to remind everyone to stop using fake slot apps. Recently, the CICC recommended nearly 20 influencers to MetaCity for action because they have been promoting fake online gambling platforms that earn profit while causing Filipinos to lose money. Many users also failed to cash out their winnings.
So if you want to play something legitimate and safe, try the game in the link below. It’s licensed, secure, offers high bonuses, guarantees cashouts via GCash, and has a win rate of up to 78%. But remember, always play responsibly.
It’s easy to earn P10,000 a day if you have the right strategy. Try it now.)
Another FB page published the fake ad twice on Nov. 6, along with a Chinese-language caption.
Results from the AI detection tool Hive Moderation indicated that the audio track in the video was 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. Aurigin.ai, a Swiss deep-tech company with an advanced audio deepfake detection engine, also flagged it as being created by AI, with 70% likelihood.
Tell-tale signs of AI use are also present in the video. Sotto’s mouth movements look unnatural and mostly do not match the audio. He also mispronounced the Filipino word “nalulugi” in the fake video.
Based on reverse image search and cursory search, the original 1-minute, 30-second video was posted by Sotto on his FB and TikTok accounts on July 12, where he gave the highlights of the first week of his third term as mayor of Pasig City. Sotto did not mention anything related to online gambling in the original clip.
In a Nov. 4 statement, Sotto dismissed the video, saying he does “not endorse anything, especially not these scams.”
Clicking on the links attached to the fake FB videos leads to unverified websites where netizens are enticed to download supposed online gambling apps, JILIX_Game and Bingo8.com. Neither of the two is on the list of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation-accredited gaming system administrators and registered brand and sub-brand as of Oct. 13.
VERA Files has debunked other edited videos of public personalities circulated on social media to promote online gambling.
Published by FB pages Katie Patrick Adelman (created on Aug. 14, 2023) and Dough Frank (Aug. 28, 2025), at least three copies of the edited video of Sotto have collectively garnered 14,825 engagements. The first page has an address in Hanoi, Vietnam, and its listed locations for people who manage the page include Hong Kong. The latter has an address located in New Jersey, United States.
