A Facebook post shows former House speaker Martin Romualdez in a hospital bed alongside former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is sleeping under a mosquito net in the same room. This image is fake and has been altered using artificial intelligence.
The fake post published on Sept. 8 carries this caption:
“𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗞: Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was seen in a hospital bed as police served an arrest warrant at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Monday.
Romualdez, facing a non-bailable plunder charge over the alleged flood control scandal, was hospitalized due to a cardiovascular condition and unstable blood pressure.
While on the other side of the room is Duterte & his favorite kulambo.”
In the image, Romualdez is seen lying in a hospital bed with medical monitoring equipment, while the left portion of the frame depicts Duterte resting under a blue mosquito net placed over a wooden bed in the same hospital room.
A closer look at the image reveals visual inconsistencies, notably Romualdez’s distorted facial features.
VERA Files Fact Check ran the image through multiple detection tools to confirm the manipulation. SightEngine flagged the image as 99% likely AI-generated, while Hive Moderation calculated a 99.9% probability of AI generation. IsThisAI determined the graphic was AI-generated with 88% confidence, and DeepAI classified the image as fake with an 84% AI likelihood. Additionally, ImageWhisperer categorized the visual as AI-generated, while WasItAI flagged that parts of the image were created using AI tools.
On Sept. 7, officers from the Philippine National Police served an arrest warrant for plunder against Romualdez at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City. The right portion of the viral image originates from an authentic photograph taken during the service of the warrant and Romualdez’ subsequent medical custody.
Duterte remains in detention at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The depiction of the former president sleeping under a mosquito net was digitally inserted into the frame. The visual element originates from well-documented archival photographs of Duterte resting inside his private home in Davao City, completely unrelated to Romualdez’ hospital confinement.
Romualdez was later transferred under judicial orders from Cardinal Santos Medical Center to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila on Sept. 12, and eventually moved to the New Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas on the night of Sept. 14.
The fabricated image surfaced hours after Romualdez’ arrest was publicized by mainstream media outlets.
Posted by FB page Juan Nationalist, the post has so far garnered 5,101 reactions; 360 comments; and 315 shares.
