FACT CHECK: Audio clip of Marcos ordering cases vs minority senators is AI-generated

Three different AI detection tools found that the audio was more than 95% likely to contain AI-generated speech

Claim: An audio recording shows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. giving instructions on cases against Senator Rodante Marcoleta, former House speaker Martin Romualdez, and two unnamed people.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Several videos have been circulating on Facebook containing an audio clip of Marcos supposedly saying, “‘Yung sa kaso ng dalawa, pahilawin mo muna. ‘Yung kay Marcoleta munang unahin. ‘Yung kay Romualdez, ikaw na ang bahala gumawa ng dahilan. Magpa-presscon ka lang.”

(For the case against the two, give it some time for now. Prioritize the one against Marcoleta. The one against Romualdez, it’s up to you to come up with a reason. Just hold a press conference.)

One video showing a vlogger reacting to the audio clip has garnered 1.2 million views, 20,600 reactions, and 12,000 shares. Another post that has a video version of the audio clip, supposedly depicting Marcos speaking to Ombudsman Boying Remulla, has gained about 40,000 views.

Most comments on both posts show that viewers believed the audio to be genuine. “Pakinggan n’yo diba? Napaka animal ang bangag na yan! Alam namin tangga (sic)!” one user commented.

(You all heard that, right? That drug addict is truly an animal! We know that, stupid!)

The facts: Results from three different AI detection tools show that the audio has over 90% likelihood of containing AI-generated speech. 

Hive Moderation and TruthScan put the probability of AI use at 98.8% and 96% respectively, while Undetectable AI found the audio clip to only be 4% real compared to the likelihood of it being AI-generated.

Searching for the statement in the audio and doing a reverse image search of the supposed video yielded no reliable results. Accounts that reposted the claim are those of vloggers; no such statement by the President was reported by credible media outlets or official government sources.

Cases vs senators, impeachment: The audio clip went viral amid the arrests of minority bloc senators Jinggoy Estrada and Marcoleta, along with the ongoing search for their colleague, Senator Bato dela Rosa, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. 

These events have left the senators unable to attend Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial and participate as senator-judges — a fact that the Duterte-aligned minority bloc has repeatedly taken issue with.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and his sister, Senator Pia Cayetano, have been attempting to push the narrative that the minority senators are being targeted with administrative cases as a form of intimidation. The Palace has denied those claims.

This came after National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag announced a possible probe into alleged procurement irregularities in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. At the time, Alan Peter headed the organizing committee for the games during his stint as House speaker. (READ MORE: LOOK BACK: When Alan Cayetano was House speaker)

Cayetano is also facing an obstruction of justice complaint, together with fellow minority senator Robin Padilla, over their role in the escape of now-fugitive Dela Rosa.

Debunked: Rappler has debunked several false claims related to key actors in Vice President Duterte’s impeachment trial:

• FACT CHECK: VP Sara’s counsel Sheila Sison not the daughter of lawyer Jose Sison  
• FACT CHECK: Lacson quote on 14-vote threshold for VP Sara impeachment is fake 
• FACT CHECK: Photocopied peso bills not legal tender, can’t be used for transactions 
• FACT CHECK: Bato dela Rosa not at recent INC rallies; post uses January 2025 video 

 – Shay Du/Rappler.com

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