Old clip of former Philippine VP Robredo resurfaced in false social media posts amid billion-dollar corruption scandal

A Facebook reel was shared on September 22, 2025 showing the ex-vice president saying in Tagalog, "…the truth at all times. Filipinos suffered under the Marcos regime. Filipinos were plundered from, tortured and slain. He used his name to bury the country in debt. A debt that future generations will still need to repay."

The clip has been viewed over three million times, with a Tagalog text overlay that reads: "Marcos step down" and "Leni Robredo speaks out against Marcos."

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Screenshot of the false Facebook reel, taken on October 22, 2025, with red X added by AFP

Robredo, who is now a city mayor, lost the 2022 presidential race to Marcos, who won by a landslide after a massive misinformation campaign smeared her and whitewashed the Marcos family's past (archived link).

The clip spread on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok a day after thousands of Filipinos rallied in Manila over bogus flood-control projects believed to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars (archived link).

Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner said on October 3 that he had rejected calls for the armed forces to topple the president (archived link). 

The military withdrew its support to Marcos's namesake father and dictator 20 years into his rule in 1986, leading to a bloodless popular revolt that chased the Marcos family into US exile.

Comments suggest people believed the video showed Robredo's call for Marcos's ouster. 

"[Robredo] jumping on the issue again. Just please be quiet," one wrote. 

"You're right, ma'am. Since [Marcos] became president, crime has been at an all-time high. Killings, robberies, corruption," another commented.

But the video was cut short. A reverse image search using keyframes in the video found Robredo's complete speech published on September 21, 2021 on her YouTube channel, showing she was actually referring to former dictator Ferdinand Marcos's rule (archived link). 

The video's title translates to English as "Message of VP Leni Robredo for the Anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law."

Robredo can be heard making the same remarks in the false post from the 45-second to the 1:07 mark.

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Screenshot of the false post (left) and the YouTube video published in September 2021 (right)

Local fact-checking organisation Vera Files has also debunked this claim.

Ferdinand Marcos, the current president's father, declared martial law on September 21, 1972, unleashing security forces on rivals, critics and dissidents (archived link). Amnesty International estimates thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands tortured and imprisoned. 

Half a century after martial law began, 11,103 people have been officially recognised as victims of these human rights abuses (archived link).

Further keyword searches found local news outlets, including Inquirer, GMA News and Rappler, also reported on Robredo's message at the time (archived here, here, and here).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation about the corruption scandal involving flood control projects.