MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to take down a viral video showing a man sniffing a powdery substance from a small cup.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo confirmed in a Thursday (25 July 2024) press briefing at Camp Crame that the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) has already coordinated with the DICT regarding the video.
Fajardo urged netizens to refrain from spreading the video, which had been shown at a gathering linked to former President Rodrigo Duterte in the United States. “Based on initial investigations, it is not true that a high-profile personality is involved,” she said.
Justice Undersecretary Hermogenes Andres also stated that the video, which features a man resembling President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., is fake and intended to misrepresent. He warned that those spreading the fake video could face cybercrime charges.
ACG Director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Cariaga revealed that a deepware artificial intelligence (AI) detection tool had determined the video was fake. Discrepancies in facial features, including the size of the ear, shape of the eyes and nose, and sideburns, indicated the man in the video was not Marcos. Spectral imaging analysis by the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) supported this finding.
NBI digital forensics experts concluded that the man in the altered video is definitively not President Marcos.
(el Amigo/mnm)
