Two videos supposedly showing resigned Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co spotted by netizens are circulating online. These are fake and were generated using artificial intelligence.
One video, uploaded by a YouTube channel as early as Oct. 28, shows Co avoiding being filmed by another person. The video bore a superimposed text that read: “Zaldy Co naispatan ng isang netizen?!” (Zaldy Co spotted by a netizen?!)
Other users have reposted the video on TikTok and Facebook on Oct. 29 and 30.
Another video, published by a YouTube channel and some FB pages and users on Nov. 1, claimed Co was supposedly caught on camera dining at an eatery.
A woman in the clip can be heard asking the resigned congressman, who has been out of the country since July:
“Sir, kailan po kayo uuwi ng Pinas? Sir, dadalo po ba kayo sa pagdinig sa Senado?” (Sir, when are you coming back to the Philippines? Sir, will you be attending the Senate hearing?)
Results from Hive Moderation, which detects AI-generated or deepfake content in videos, showed a 99.9% detection rate in both videos of Co, who has yet to return to the country amid allegations of his involvement in the anomalous flood control projects.
The video, where Co was attempting to block the camera recording him, showed a red flag, indicating the use of AI.
VERA Files tapped the Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) of the India-based Misinformation Combat Alliance to verify the authenticity of the clip in which Co was supposedly dining in an eatery.
An expert from the DAU said the video is “full of visual artefacts that prove that it is AI-generated,” referring to the specific keyframe shown below.
“All this is in line with AI not being able to maintain geometric consistency across frames,” the DAU said.
But while the video with the voice of a woman asking questions to Co showed signs of AI use, the DAU noted that its audio was not AI-generated, based on results from tools including Hive AI audio classifier, Hiya Audio Intelligence, and Aurigin.ai, a Swiss deep-tech company with an advanced audio deepfake detection engine.
The DAU also ran the clip through ElevenLabs speech classifier and found it “very unlikely” that the video’s audio was generated using its platform.
“Tools usually work best when the duration of the track is long enough for proper assessment,” the DAU noted.
The AI-generated videos surfaced after the Independent Commission for Infrastructure issued another subpoena for Co, instructing him to appear before the body on its Nov. 11 and 12 hearings as part of the commission’s investigation into the anomalous flood control projects.
VERA Files has previously fact checked a similar bogus claim that Co was allegedly spotted walking around Portugal last month. (READ: ‘Zaldy Co in Portugal’ photo AI-generated)
A YouTube channel, JooTV (created on Feb. 17, 2023), published both fake videos, which have so far collectively received over 1 million views, 12,000 reactions and 5,220 comments. Other copies have been reposted on FB and TikTok.
