A video depicting resigned Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co in custody of the Czech Republic and about to return to the Philippines is recirculating on Facebook. This is fake and made using artificial intelligence.
The post published on June 7 is captioned:
“Update Balita ni Zaldy Co (News update on Zaldy Co).”
This hoax was originally a one-minute, seven-second clip recycled to make it appear to be a fresh update. VERA Files debunked the same footage on April 22.
In the video, the AI-generated voice says:
“Ako si Zaldy Co. Isa ako sa mga nasangkot sa isyu ng flood control project, at ngayon ako ay nasa kustodiya na at pauwi na sa Pilipinas sa ilalim ng mga awtoridad. Hindi na ako mananahimik. Handa akong isiwalat ang lahat ng aking nalalaman, at ang buong katotohanan sa likod ng proyektong ito.
Ibubunyag ko kung paano naganap ang sistematikong pag-abuso sa pondo ng bayan, at kung sinu-sino ang nasa likod nito kabilang ang dalawang matataas na opisyal ng gobyerno na umano’y pasimuno ng katiwalian. Kapag ako ay humarap sa Blue Ribbon Committee, ilalatag ko ang lahat walang itatago. Kung ang kapalit nito ay ang aking pagkakakulong, handa akong panagutan basta’t makakasama ko sa pananagutan ang mga tunay na mastermind. Kung nais mong malaman ang buong katotohanan…
(I am Zaldy Co. I am one of those involved in the flood control project issue, and now I am already in custody and on my way back to the Philippines under the custody of authorities. I will no longer stay silent; I am ready to reveal everything I know, and the whole truth behind this project.
I will expose how the systematic abuse of public funds took place, and who exactly is behind this, including two high-ranking government officials who are allegedly the masterminds of the corruption. When I face the Blue Ribbon Committee, I will lay everything out with nothing to hide. If the price for this is my imprisonment, I am ready to take responsibility, as long as the real masterminds are held accountable with me. If you want to know the whole truth…)”
VERA Files ran the video through the Deepfake Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance to verify if it was AI-fabricated.
Several digital forensic tools confirmed that the audio is fake and artificial. Hive flagged the 40 seconds of the audio as AI-generated, while Hiya indicated the voice appeared “generated or modified by AI.” Aurigin AI was 70% confident that it is partially AI-generated, and Resemble.ai outright labelled it as “fake.” Meanwhile, ElevenLabs speech classifier showed that the audio was “very unlikely” to have been produced using its own platform.
While Hive detected the video as a deepfake, with an expert from DAU noting that the software highlighted several signs of AI-tampering, another detecting tool, Resemble.ai, contradictorily cleared it as authentic.
Nonetheless, DAU’s manual frame-by-frame analysis exposed the red flags in the footage, like the “inflation and discoloration” of his lower lip along with his lower teeth looking like a “white line hovering inside the mouth.”
A closer look at the footage also highlights several visual inconsistencies, such as the audio-to-lip lag, unnatural blinking, and the robotic stare, which are primarily the basis for a deepfake claim.
The background also features a photo that was fabricated to look like the logo of the Police of the Czech Republic. However, various inconsistencies, including the circular design at the center, the missing diacritical mark in the letter “c” in the word “České, and the curved tail of the letter “y” in the word “Republiky,” prove that it is fake.
Malacañang confirmed on April 28 that Co was no longer in Czech custody and was seeking political asylum in France.
The fake video was reposted after the appearance of the 18 self-confessed bagmen of Co in the unauthorized hearing of the Blue Ribbon Committee by the Cayetano bloc on June 4. As of writing, Co’s whereabouts remain unknown.
The post published by a Facebook user Andy Rico Alejandro has so far garnered 34,592 reactions, 2,900 comments, and 8,500 shares.
