A supposed news graphic on Facebook is claiming that Vice President Sara Duterte “finalized” a deal with Iran’s Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad for “safe passage of Davao-bound tankers” through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel for global oil transit that has been blocked due to the United States and Israel’s war against Iran. This is fake.
Published by an FB page on Apr. 1, the graphic mimics the design and layout of Inquirer.net’s graphics. It carried an alleged photo of Paknejad and Duterte shaking hands with the flags of Iran and the Philippines in the background. The headline reads:
“Iran and Philippines Reach Strategic Maritime Agreement to Secure Oil Shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Several red flags indicate that this news card is bogus. First, Inquirer.net did not publish such a graphic on any of its official social media channels. Disinformation peddlers often closely mimic or slightly alter the publication materials of legitimate media organizations to make their claims appear credible, as seen in posts previously debunked by VERA Files.
A cursory search of the claim yielded no news reports substantiating the alleged deal between Paknejad and Duterte. Reverse image searches of the photo on the graphic also showed no such picture posted by credible foreign and local media outlets or from Duterte’s official social media pages.
VERA Files reached out to the Deepfakes Analysis Unit of the India-based Trusted Information Alliance to check if the graphic was generated using artificial intelligence. The AI detection tool ImageWhisperer noted that the image of Paknejad and Duterte is “AI-generated with 88% confidence” based on “a specialized Flux detection model.”
Google SynthID indicated that only a small part of the two officials’ photo was made with Google AI, while three other tools did not classify it as AI-generated.
VERA Files also ran the entire graphic through Hive Moderation, which flagged it as 79.3% likely to be AI-generated.
PH vessels ‘safe’ passage via Hormuz
The bogus claim emerged as fuel prices in the Philippines continued to rise due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
On April 2, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that Iran will allow the “safe, unhindered and expeditious passage through the Strait of Hormuz of Philippine-flagged vessels, energy sources and all Filipino seafarers,” following a phone conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Foreign Affairs Sec. Ma. Theresa Lazara.
The DFA also confirmed that no toll fees will be imposed on Philippine-bound vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Energy Sec. Sharon Garin clarified in an Apr. 4 statement that the “safe and preferential access” secured by the Philippines through the Strait of Hormuz would not immediately cut down fuel prices but would “help ensure continuity of supply and stability.”
The fictitious post by FB page Memeng Malupet (created Sept. 30, 2023) received 3,800 reactions; 1,400 comments and 186 shares as of writing.
