Capitalizing on current political tensions surrounding the ongoing impeachment trial, a graphic claiming that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “threatened and pressured” Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero to put Vice President Sara Duterte behind bars is going viral online. This is false and mere clickbait.
First published by a pro-Duterte FB page on Oct. 5, the graphic bore a photo depicting Marcos pointing to Escudero while Duterte was put in a jail cell, along with this superimposed text:
“IKULONG MO SI SARA! KUNG HINDI IKAW ANG IKULONG KO! (Jail Sara! Otherwise, I’ll put you in jail.)”
Below it is another statement that reads:
“Ebedinsya na Voice Recording kung Paano Tinakot at Ginipit ni Marcos si Escudero nilabas na! Panoorin ang video sa YouTube Tingnan ang Comment
(Evidence of a voice recording showing how Marcos threatened and pressured Escudero has been released! Watch the video on YouTube. Check the comments).”
The FB page linked in its comment section a YouTube video uploaded on its own channel, which purportedly contained the alleged “voice recording.” The four-minute, 27-second clip used the same photo of the three high-ranking government officials featured in the Oct. 5 graphic as its thumbnail.
Since then, other netizens have reposted the graphic and the YouTube link on FB and TikTok.
No factual evidence suggests that a voice recording of Marcos threatening Escudero exists. Such a controversial allegation would have gotten widespread media coverage but no credible news outlet has reported or documented such an exchange between the two officials.
Neither Escudero nor the impeachment court can penalize Duterte with imprisonment as the judgment for convicted officials consists only of removal and disqualification from holding any office in the government, according to Article 11, Section 3(7) of the 1987 Constitution.
Nevertheless, the University of the Philippines College of Law noted in its Feb. 7, 2025 impeachment primer that the removed official may still face separate criminal and/or civil cases in the proper courts. Such prosecution after impeachment does not constitute double jeopardy, it added.
Some red flags
Both the viral graphic and clip were deliberately designed to generate views and engagement through ragebait claims and clickbait headlines—common deceptive tactics VERA Files has observed over the years.
The owner of the pro-Duterte FB page and YouTube channel merely insinuated that Malacañang and the presiding officer were colluding to impeach Duterte without presenting any proof to support its claim.
Meanwhile, AI detection tools Hive Moderation and AIorNot both found the thumbnail photo bearing the depicted narrative involving Marcos, Escudero, and Duterte to be 95.7% “likely artificial intelligence-generated” and 90% “likely deepfake,” respectively. The digital verification tool InVID, on the other hand, detected only “moderate evidence (suspicious but non-conclusive) suggesting that this image could be synthetic.”
Despite this, the FB post contained no label or disclaimer indicating that the image was created using AI.
VERA Files also noted that in the comment section of the Oct. 5 post, the pro-Duterte FB page attached a link asking netizens to support him through a P99 monthly subscription, raising the possibility that financial incentives may be driving its posting of sensationalized, clickbait-style content.
The made-up claim surfaced as the House prosecution team was nearing completion of its presentation of evidence for Article II, which accuses Duterte of amassing unexplained wealth.
On Oct. 13, the prosecution rested its impeachment case against the vice president as it decided to withdraw Articles I (confidential funds), III (bribery), and IV (grave threats), leaving only the unexplained wealth charge for adjudication.
The original post by FB page Makata Ng Bayan (created as Pambansang Makabayan on April 13, 2020) has so far garnered over 16,600 reactions; 4,100 comments and 19,000 shares. In its YouTube channel (created on Feb. 15, 2021), the video with the same fictitious claim received 1,400 reactions; 81 comments and 40,097 views as of writing. Other copies reposted on FB and TikTok have likewise generated significant traction.
