FACT CHECK: Video of Charo Santos endorsing joint, bone pain relief cream is AI-edited 

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The video of Santos, originally posted on Instagram, was manipulated to falsely suggest her endorsement of the pain relief cream

Claim: Actress Charo Santos endorses the product Bee Venom Turmeric Joint and Bone Pain Relief Cream. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: On April 21, the Facebook page “Philippine Orthopedic News Center 24H” posted a video featuring the renowned actress endorsing the pain relief cream.

As of this writing, the video has garnered 21,000 reactions, 2,000 comments, and 1,000 shares on Facebook. Being a sponsored post, it’s able to reach audiences outside the page’s usual followers. 

The caption makes bold health claims, asserting that the product can cure several health conditions: “Ang pananakit ng kasu-kasuan, arthritis, gout, hirap sa paggalaw, kahit na 10 o 20 taon na ang sakit ay maaari pa ring ganap na gumaling sa pamamaraang ito.”

(Joint pain, arthritis, gout and issues with mobility can still be cured using this method, even if the condition has persisted for 10 or even 20 years.) 

The post’s caption and the video also encourage users to click a link to purchase the product, offering discounts as an incentive.

The video spends only two minutes showing Santos seemingly endorsing the product. The remaining 30 minutes feature expansive shots of natural landscapes unrelated to the product. 

The facts: The video featuring Santos is fake. A reverse image search revealed that the clip used in the misleading post was taken from Episode 8 of the “Dear Charo” series posted on Instagram on April 10.

The misleading post manipulated Santos’ mouth movements in the video to make it appear that she was endorsing the product.  

In a fact check article by ABS-CBN, Santos clarified that she does not endorse the Bee Venom product, stating: “May kumakalat pong video na ginamitan ng AI para gayahin ang aking boses at mukha. Ginamit ito para magbenta ng gamot na hindi ko po ineendorso.” (There is a video spreading online that used AI to mimic my voice and face. This was used to sell a product I am not endorsing.)

Fake Facebook page: The page that posted the false post, named “Philippine Orthopedic News Center 24H”, imitates the look of the official page of the Philippine Orthopedic Center. In 2024, the center clarified that it has only one official Facebook page, which currently has 10,000 likes and 13,000 followers. The bogus page only has 768 likes and 1,100 followers on Facebook.

Unregistered health product: Bee Venom Turmeric Joint and Bone Pain Relief Cream is not included in the list of registered products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), based on a search using the verification portal on the FDA’s website. 

Similar fact checks: Rappler has fact-checked multiple posts that used AI-generated content to promote bee venom products: 

• FACT CHECK: Post advertising ‘St. Luke’s Hospital’ bee venom product is fake
• FACT CHECK: Fake UP-PGH page posts AI-edited bone and joint pain ‘cure’ ad
• FACT CHECK: Ad for gout, joint pain ‘cure’ uses deepfake video of Filipino doctor

– Samantha Audrey Evanglista/Rappler.com

Samantha Audrey Evanglista is a Rappler volunteer. They are a third-year BA Communication Research student at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

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