DILG chief orders probe of deepfake video

INTERIOR Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said on Monday that he has ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to investigate a video of a person who looks like President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. using an illegal substance.

«I'm asking our chief PNP, General (Rommel) Marbil, together with General (Matthew) Baccay and, of course, (PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group chief) Gen. (Ronnie) Cariaga to immediately create a task force to probe this issue. We will definitely investigate this thoroughly,» Abalos said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) dismissed the video as «deepfake» or digitally created.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy warned the perpetrators of the deepfake video that they could be held liable under laws against cyber libel, slander, and malicious mischief.

This was not the first time that Marcos was a victim of deepfake videos. In April, a deepfake audio wherein the President purportedly ordered aggressive action against a particular country circulated on social media. Uy said that the public should expect more deepfake videos «considering election season is coming.» Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. slammed the «maliciously crude attempt to destabilize the administration» as he assured the public that «they will not succeed.» «Even the release of the contrived video in the US is a cowardly attempt to escape Philippine criminal jurisdiction,» Teodoro said.

The Department of National Defense urged concerned US authorities to probe and bring to justice the perpetrators behind the «disgusting act.» The video of a man resembling President Marcos holding a small plastic pack with a crystalline substance was presented at a gathering of a group called «Maisug» in the US during a rally.

Presidential Adviser for Poverty Alleviation Secretary Larry Gadon dismissed the rallyists and sympathizers as «pathetic.»

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin dismissed the video as nothing but malicious.