Social media posts on 'phony Philippine project' share footage of unrelated Russian bridge

Published on October 9, 2025 at 11:05
2 min read
By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines

A spiralling corruption scandal into bogus flood control projects in the Philippines has seen numerous lawmakers implicated, but a video circulating on social media showing a bridge swept away by heavy flooding is unrelated. The original clip was taken in Russia in August 2025.

A Facebook video showing a rickety bridge washed away by a strong current was shared on September 30, 2025.

"Zaldy Co and Martin Romualdez built a bridge worth 80 million (pesos) ($1.39 million). Look at what happened to it," its Tagalog-language caption said, referring to two Philippine lawmakers whose names have surfaced in a mounting corruption scandal of fraudulent flood control projects.

Public anger over so-called ghost infrastructure projects has been intensifying since President Ferdinand Marcos put them centre stage in a July state of the nation address that followed weeks of deadly flooding (archived link).

Co has since resigned from the House of Representatives, while Romualdez stepped down as House speaker amid ongoing investigations into the scandal (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook video taken on October 8, 2025, with the red X mark added by AFP

The claim also appeared in posts shared on TikTok, YouTube and X.

Some users who commented on the video appeared to believe the claim.

"They must be held accountable," one user said.

"This is such an overpriced bridge," another commented.

But the posts share footage filmed during heavy flooding in Russia.

Google reverse image searches of one of the video's keyframes led to a longer version uploaded to TikTok by user maksimblagov on August 4 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false video (L) and the TikTok video shared on August 4, 2025

Its Russian-language caption says it shows "flooding in Lermontovo" -- a village in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region.

Russian state media TRT World published similar footage on Facebook the same day (archived link).

"Floodwaters in Russia's Krasnodar region caused a bridge to collapse, cutting off key transport routes," the video's caption said.

Other news outlets such as Al Jazeera and Canal 26 used the same footage in their reports on the accident (archived here and here).

Google keyword searches led to a news report by state-run RIA Novosti indicating the bridge destroyed in Lermontovo crossed the Shapsukho river (archived link).

Based on these clues, AFP geolocated the video to a bridge in Russia's Lermontovo village on Yandex Maps (archived link).

The 2024 street view image shows the crossing's identical green railings and elevated sidewalks.

Screenshot comparison of the false video (L) and the Yandex Street View of the Russian bridge, with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP

AFP has also fact-checked other misinformation related to the Philippine corruption probe.

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