FACT CHECK: No proof cited in posts claiming ‘authenticated’ Marcos ‘polvoron’ video

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The video, supposedly showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. taking illegal drugs, has previously been flagged by a deepfake detector as ‘suspicious’

Claim: The alleged “polvoron video,” a clip purportedly showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. taking cocaine, has been authenticated. 

Rating: FALSE 

Why we fact-checked this: Several posts are circulating on social media showing the video, which was earlier presented by known pro-Duterte content creator Maharlika in July 2024, before Marcos’ State of the Nation Address. 

A YouTube video, uploaded on April 16, shows Maharlika claiming the video was authenticated. Text on the thumbnail reads: “Maharlika nilabas na authentication ng polvoron” (Maharlika has released authentication for the polvoron video.)

Meanwhile, other social media posts featured user comments echoing the authentication claim. A Facebook video uploaded in December 2024, which has 9.3 million views, 41,000 reactions, and 9,700 comments, continues to receive engagement from active Facebook users. One commenter said on April 25: “Di yan fake. Na-authenticate [na] [yang] video n[a] [yan] na siya [talaga] yan.”

(That’s not fake. That video has been authenticated that it was really him). 

Other comments attacked Marcos, saying that a president who is supposedly under the influence of illegal drugs is not fit to lead a country.

The facts: While the posts claim that the alleged “polvoron video” was supposedly authenticated, none of the posts provided any evidence to support this assertion. Several videos show Maharlika holding a document, which she claims is proof of the video’s legitimacy. However, she did not provide any details, only saying that this document would be presented in court.

The video has long been flagged as deepfake by various fact-checking organizations. Rappler’s July 2024 report showed that deepfake detection tool Sensity flagged the video as “suspicious,” and indicated with a confidence rate of 81.8% that a potential “faceswap” may have been done on the video. (READ: FACT CHECK: ‘Faceswap’ flagged in alleged Marcos ‘polvoron video’)

Similarly, VERA Files reported in September 2024 that the Deepfakes Analysis Unit discovered inconsistencies in the video’s authenticity. 

“Results of the analyses on Maharlika’s higher-quality video were more conclusive. They indicated possible tampering with the face of the man in the video,” VERA Files stated. 

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also debunked the claim through a forensic analysis on July 23, 2024. (READ: From disinformation beneficiary to target: Marcos battles deepfakes)

About the ‘polvoron’ video: The suspicious clip continues to make the rounds on social media amid the ongoing political feud between the former allies Marcoses and Dutertes, and as the campaign season ramps up for the May 2025 midterm elections. 

During a hearing of the House tri committee investigating fake news on April 8, blogger Pebbles Cunanan accused former presidential spokesman Harry Roque of being behind the release of the video. According to Cunanan, Roque shared during a private dinner in Hong Kong on July 7, 2024, that he had received from a politician a screenshot of the video. 

The NBI has already filed a complaint against Roque and Maharlika. – Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com

Angelee Kaye Abelinde, a campus journalist from Naga City, is a second-year Journalism student of Bicol University and the current copy editor of The Bicol Universitarian. She is a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024. 

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