Multiple posts are circulating on Facebook featuring a photo claiming to show former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co in handcuffs, sandwiched between police officers at the border of the Czech Republic and Germany. This is fake and the photo is AI-generated.
The fabricated photo, the original of which was supposedly posted by former interior and local government secretary Rafael Alunan II, began circulating on April 17. Its caption reads:
“Arrested. To be extradited.”
The image was posted alongside a graphic designed to explain the extradition process, but contains false information. The graphic, which features a photo of Co, reads:
“PUWEDE BA I-EXTRADITE? OO. PUWEDE. Pero hindi automatic. May treaty ang Pilipinas at Czech Republic. May proseso. May ebidensya. May korte… HUSTISYA, HINDI MADALI. PERO DAPAT SIGURADO. EXTRADITION IS LAW, NOT POLITICS.
(Can he be extradited? Yes. He can. But it’s not automatic. The Philippines has a treaty with the Czech Republic. There is a process. There is evidence. There is a court. Justice is not easy. But it must be certain. Extradition is law, not politics).”
The Czech Republic is not on the list of countries with which the Philippines has an existing extradition treaty, according to the International Legal Cooperation division of the Department of Justice. Consequently, the only way Co can be returned to the Philippines is if the European country deports him.
The same photo was published by at least three other FB users the following day.
The bogus photo was created with the use of Gemini, Google’s generative artificial intelligence chatbot as shown by the logo on the lower right hand of the graphic. A check with Alunan’s official FB account, which has the same profile photo as the one used in the graphic, does not contain a post regarding Co’s arrest.
While President Ferdinand Marcos confirmed on April 16 that the former congressman was stopped due to immigration violations while attempting to cross the Czech border to Germany, there have been no published photos of the actual incident.
VERA Files Fact Check closely examined the image and identified multiple visual clues as proof it was AI generated:
- The police officer on the left appears to be putting handcuffs on Co, who is already cuffed.
- Police in the Czech Republic is spelled ‘policie’.
- The badge emblem on the right officer’s uniform is illegible, with garbled lettering.
- The face of the man behind the police officer on the right is distorted.
- Co is wearing the exact same outfit he had on when he made his video statement in November 2025.
VERA Files Fact Check reached out to the Deepfakes Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance to verify the authenticity of the photo. DAU ran the photo through AI detection tools.
Results from Hive moderation, AI or Not, SynthID, Sightengine, and Was it AI? flagged the photo as likely AI-generated.
The former House appropriations committee chairman has been wanted by Philippine authorities since 2025 after being implicated in a massive flood control corruption scandal. The Sandiganbayan has issued a warrant of arrest against him for graft and malversation of public funds, but Co has been staying abroad all this time.
The AI-generated photo surfaced following news of the former lawmaker’s detention came out on April 16.
Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida confirmed in a press conference on April 21 and a subsequent interview the following day, that he and Chief State Counsel Dennis Chan would fly to the Czech Republic on April 23 to negotiate for Co’s repatriation.
The fabricated photo published by FB users has collectively garnered 696 reactions; 65 comments; 82 shares.
