The Philippine National Police (PNP) has been ordered to investigate the viral video that showed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allegedly using drugs, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos issued the order and said that the video “was fake and malicious.”
“I’m asking our chief PNP, General Marbil, together with General Baccay and, of course, General Cariaga to immediately create a task force to probe this issue. Talagang imbestigahan nila maigi ito,” Abalos said in a media briefing.
Abalos, quoted by GMA News, also said he directed the PNP to coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
The video showed a person taking drugs. Abalos said there were indications that the video was fake.
“Why am I saying this? Because today there are numerous AI content circulating in social media that are fake. We should be observant. Let us not immediately believe such things,” Abalos said.
Abalos stressed that it was not President Marcos in the video.
The Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday called a video from a gathering of a group linked to former president Rodrigo Duterte in the US as “malicious.”
“The obviously fake video being circulated emanating from a MAISUG gathering in Los Angeles is again a maliciously crude attempt to destabilize the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. They will not succeed!” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
The DND was referring to a video at a gathering, which purportedly showed the Chief Executive using illegal drugs.
Andolong said the release of the contrived video in the US is a “cowardly attempt to escape Philippine criminal jurisdiction.” He also urged US authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this act.
In a video statement, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the video is “obviously manipulated.”
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday warned the public that sharing the fake video of the President is illegal and punishable with the same offense as those who created the video.
In a televised interview over PTV, DICT spokesperson, Undersecretary Jeffrey Ian Dy said posting the fake video is punishable by Republic Act (RA) No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
“Because you’re willingly trying to spread false utterances or misleading information,” Dy said.
However, he said the originators of the video were the ones being targeted by law enforcement units such as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe meanwhile condemned the people responsible for the fabrication and dissemination of the said video.
“The fabricated video, which falsely depicts the president using illegal substances, is not just an attack on his person but an affront to the entire nation,” Dalipe of Zamboanga City said.
“This act is not just an attack against our president but a blatant attempt to destabilize our government and undermine the integrity of our democratic processes. It erodes public trust and poses a serious threat to our national unity,” he added.
Dalipe highlighted the poor quality of the AI fabrication, noting that the video was poorly edited and clearly identifiable as a fake. “The shoddy editing and obvious signs of AI manipulation in the video only serve to further illustrate the desperation and malicious intent behind this attack,” he noted.
The Majority Leader emphasized the need for swift and decisive action against those responsible for this attack. “The full extent of the law must be applied to those behind these unrelenting attempts to destabilize the government. Such misuse of technology for political gain cannot be tolerated,” he stated.
