House calls on "malicious" deepfake video probe

The House of Representatives has called on the concerned agencies to carry out a swift investigation and send to jail those found to be involved in the "malicious" deepfake video designed to put President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a bad light and sow discord between the Philippines and China.

Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales stressed that the fabricated video poses a formidable threat to the country's national security and that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and its Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center should immediately look into it to stave off its recurrence.

"We should not allow this to happen again. We should not tolerate criminally-minded persons to wreak havoc on our national security and to give our people fake information," said the Pampanga lawmaker over the weekend, warning that the persons responsible for the dissemination of such content will be held liable.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez joined Gonzales in his call, demanding that the concerned agencies should give the House a periodic report on the progress of its investigation.

Suarez recommended that the national government seek the assistance of experts in the private sector in a hastened search for the culprits.

"It should not be difficult for them to identify the origin of the deepfake and those behind it. I suspect this bogus material originated from somewhere in the south of the country," he said.

On the one hand, the Quezon solon reminded the supposed recipients of the President's directive not to pay attention to the "impostors and fabricators" whose goal is to manipulate the public about issues concerning the hotly contested West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"I trust that they will heed instructions issued only through official lines of communication and from the chain of command. I believe in the professionalism and patriotism of our soldiers," Suarez stressed.

The once-viral altered video, which made it appear that Marcos ordered the military and the special task force to act against China, which has been embroiled in a maritime dispute with the Philippines over the contested waterway, has since been taken down, according to Malacañang.

The manipulated content, which used Marcos' face and voice, resurfaced in the thick of escalating geopolitical tensions between the Philippines and China concerning the WPS.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) has disowned the fabricated clip and has ordered the concerned agencies to swiftly probe the issue.

Over the weekend, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced they had already identified the possible source of the deepfake technology that was maliciously manipulated and edited using artificial intelligence.

Last week, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to launch a swift and comprehensive probe into the matter, warning that legal sanctions await anyone found to be involved in the propagation of the video deepfake.