Philippine official did not dismiss allegations against president as AI fabrication

Published on November 24, 2025 at 05:39
2 min read
By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines

After a former lawmaker implicated in a growing corruption scandal accused the Philippine president of masterminding the fraud in a series of videos, a purported graphic from media outlet Philstar.com circulated in posts falsely claiming Palace Press Officer Claire Castro had dismissed the clips as AI-generated. While the administration has rejected the accusations against President Ferdinand Marcos, the graphic uses a fabricated quote and is inconsistent with authentic Philstar.com graphics.

The purported graphic from Philstar.com that shows Palace Press Officer Claire Castro speaking at a press briefing was shared on Facebook on November 14, 2025.

The graphic, which was shared more than 22,000 times, is superimposed with a quote attributed to Castro: "Let's have the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) verify the video first because it might just be AI. It's impossible that that's Zaldy Co."

It circulated after ex-congressman Elizaldy Co released a video in which he accused President Ferdinand Marcos and his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, of masterminding a multibillion-peso flood-control corruption scheme (archived here and here).

The issue of so-called "ghost projects" was thrust into the spotlight by Marcos in his State of the Nation speech in July following weeks of deadly flooding (archived link).

Scores of construction firm owners, government officials, and lawmakers have since been accused of pocketing public funds for substandard or incomplete infrastructure projects -- including Co, whose whereabouts have been unknown since the probe began and has since resigned from the House of Representatives.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on November 24, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The graphic was also shared in similar Facebook, TikTok and X posts, with comments on the posts indicating users believed it was a genuine quote from Castro attempting to undermine Co's allegations.

"It's over, Claire. You can't get out of this anymore, you've been exposed," one user commented.

Another said: "Better blame it on AI because the truth is already too painful to deny, right Claire?"

While Castro has dismissed Co's accusations as "without basis in fact", the quote attributed to her in the circulating graphic is a fabrication (archived link).

She told AFP on November 19: "That is a fake quote card. I did not say that."

Fabricated graphic

AFP found no record of the graphic on the official online platforms of Philstar.com, with the outlet saying the graphic did not come from them (archived link).

"The layout, caption and claims shown in the post are fabricated and do not reflect any report or content produced by Philstar.com," it posted on X on November 15.

Philstar.com also published its own debunk examining the inconsistencies (archived link).

Further searches on the outlet's Facebook page found a corresponding image of Castro but with a different quote about an unrelated issue involving a popular comedian joking about former president Rodrigo Duterte (archived link).

While the fabricated graphic mimics some visual elements used in genuine Philstar.com quote cards, it contains several grammatical errors, a different font and centre-aligned body text instead of the outlet's usual left alignment.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared graphic (left) and a genuine Philstar.com graphic (right)

AFP has debunked a slew of misinformation about the "ghost projects" scandal.

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