FACT CHECK: Video showing US warships, troops in Subic Bay is AI-generated

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Multiple US military assets were last seen in the vicinity of Subic Bay during the Multilateral Maritime Event of Balikatan Exercise 2025

Claim: A video shows multiple US Army warships and troops arriving in Subic Bay in the Philippines. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube post containing the claim has over 52,182 views and 261 likes as of writing.

The post, dated January 16, is titled, “U.S. Navy Arrives in Force: Multiple Warships Spotted at Subic Bay, Philippines Left Stunned.”

The video featured several clips, including those of US troops aboard a warship, riding a hovercraft, and arriving on a beach. 

In its description, the post includes a disclaimer that the video was AI-generated, but most of the YouTube accounts that commented on the video are convinced that it was genuine. The video uploader also did not reiterate this AI disclaimer in its replies to comments that thanked the US government for supposedly deploying the troops to the Philippines.

The facts: The clips shown in the video are AI-generated.

AI video detector Hive Moderation flagged the video as 99.9% likely to be AI-generated. Detection tool Undetectable AI found the video to be “likely generated by AI” with a confidence level of 96%. 

Military activities: According to a Facebook post by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the AFP and the US Navy conducted a bilateral maritime cooperative activity (MCA) in Bajo de Masinloc from January 25 to 26, 2026. The United States Indo-Pacific Command fielded US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John Finn (DDG 113) and an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter for the MCA.

USS John Finn also participated in an MCA within Subic Bay held from September 11 to 13, 2025. 

The Multilateral Maritime Event (MME) of Balikatan Exercise 2025, conducted from April 24 to 29, 2025, was the most recent time when multiple US ships were in the vicinity of Subic Bay. The USS Savannah (LCS-28) and USS Comstock (LSD-45) of the US Navy participated in the 2025 MME, along with key naval and air assets of the Philippines and Japan. – Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

Lorenz Pasion is a Rappler contributor. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. 

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