A video circulating online features Liberal Party stalwarts and other opposition figures saying in chorus, “We are planning to save the Philippines.” This is fake.
Generated using artificial intelligence (AI), the inauthentic video is an animation of a group photo that Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, LP chairman emeritus, uploaded on his Facebook page Feb. 5.
In the photo, he is seen alongside Sens. Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros, Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno, former vice president and Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo, former Senate president Franklin Drilon, and former Budget secretary Florencio Abad.
An FB page posted the fabricated video on Feb. 6 with the caption:
“Para sa magandang kinabukasan ng bansa!
ParaSaBayan #parati #LeniRobredo #LikeFollowShare #fbreels
(For a better future of the nation!
#ForTheNation #always #LeniRobredo #LikeFollowShare #fbreels).”
The personalities in the video supposedly made this statement, followed by a snippet of “Kay Leni Tayo,” one of Robredo’s campaign songs during the 2022 presidential elections:
“We are planning to save the Philippines! So give us a chance to give you a better, brighter future.”
By reverse image searching the clip’s first frame, VERA Files Fact Check tracked down its original source: a photo that Pangilinan posted on his FB page earlier this month. He did not upload any video from that meeting of opposition figures.
The circulating clip, which was uploaded by a fan page of the 2022 Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, bears visible signs of (sloppily) deepfaked content:
- The audio and mouth movement of the people in the video were asynchronous.
- None of the voices sounded like that of their owners.
- Their physical appearances became distorted beyond recognition, especially that of Robredo’s.
- De Lima’s hands had varying numbers of fingers, and one appeared to dissolve into the other as she clapped.
- Aquino was shown speaking alongside Robredo but no sound could be heard.
In addition to these tell-tale signs of AI-generated content, VERA Files also ran the fake clip through the AI-detection tool Hive Moderation. Results indicated a 99.8% likelihood that it was made with AI.
The fake clip was published by the FB page Good Governance Supporters (created on July 17, 2021) about 12 hours after Pangilinan uploaded pictures of the meeting on Feb. 5. As of writing, it has accumulated over 21,000 reactions; 1,800 comments; 920 shares; and 356,000 views.
