Several online users are circulating an “ABS-CBN” news card that supposedly states Vice President Sara Duterte expressed willingness to post bail for embattled contractor Sarah Discaya. This is fake.
Posted as early as Dec. 19, 2025 by a TikTok account, the fraudulent news card bore the name and logo of ABS-CBN News, along with a headline that read:
“VP Sara Duterte, handang magbayad ng pyansa para sa matalik na kaibigang Discaya (Vice President Sara Duterte is ready to post bail for her close friend, Discaya.)”
At least four users republished the graphic on Facebook from Jan. 3 to 4. Some believed it was true while others refuted the claim, noting that the charges against Discaya were non-bailable.
ABS-CBN News has disowned the news card falsely attributed to it.
Francis Toral, news chief of ABS-CBN News, told VERA Files in a Jan. 5 email that they did not publish such a news card, adding “it is false and purely fabricated.”
Moreover, a quick review of the official FB pages of Duterte and the Office of the Vice President found no posts that support the allegation linking Duterte to Discaya.
A cursory search of the entire statement in the graphic also revealed no credible local media outlets reporting on the matter. The bogus quote card was spread by social media users, who cited no verifiable sources.
The graphic is likely generated by artificial intelligence, according to results from AI detection tools Hive Moderation and WasItAI.
The fake graphic emerged a day after the National Bureau of Investigation served two arrest warrants against Discaya last Dec. 18 over a P96.5-million “ghost” flood control project in Davao Occidental. According to NBI spokesperson Atty. Palmer Mallari, the first warrant for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Philippine Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act has a bail of P90,000, while the other for malversation is non-bailable.
The TikTok post carrying the bogus news card, published by user thephinsider, has received 32,709 interactions. The other five reposts on FB have collectively garnered 13,093 reactions, 6,409 comments and 773 shares as of writing.
