A photo circulating online shows the children of former president Rodrigo Duterte in front of ambulances supposedly for distribution to the public. The image was made using artificial intelligence.
On April 2, a blog account on Facebook posted an image of Vice President Sara Duterte with Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and three others, with hundreds of ambulances visible in the background. The caption of the post read:
“Basta mga Duterte walang kurapsyon.
Galit na naman ang mga BANGAG nito!! Noong Isang Linggo namimigay nang food packs,,ngayon planong mamimigay ng ambulance para mapaabot ang serbisyo at tulong sa ating mga Mamamayan.. the next president
(When it’s the Dutertes, there’s no corruption.
The addicts are mad again!! Last Sunday they were distributing food packs, and now they’re going to distribute ambulances to extend services and assistance to our people… the next president).”
At least two other netizens reposted the photo on the same day and on April 3, both further expressing admiration for the Dutertes.
Visual signs show that the photo is AI-generated. The watermark of Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, is visible at the bottom right part. This is a clear indication that the image is inauthentic.
Other red flags include:
- The fingers of the vice president seem to blend together, unlike those of the others
- The text on the vehicles are too blurry and unreadable
Results from SynthID, Google’s own detection tool, revealed that the photo was made using Google AI. Other AI-detection platforms Hive Moderation and IsItAI also showed high probability that the image is AI-generated.
The spurious photo surfaced following the viral spread of another AI-generated image of the Duterte siblings supposedly distributing food aid, which has been debunked by VERA Files.
As of writing, the three posts published by FB users have collectively amassed 10,841 reactions; 1,451 comments; and 408 shares.
