Photo of Duterte drug war victims' supporters altered with AI as ICC hearing kicks off
- Published on February 26, 2026 at 09:26
- 3 min read
- By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines
Advocates and families of drug war victims traveled to The Hague to witness the International Criminal Court commence proceedings against former president Rodrigo Duterte, but a viral image showing them with luxury handbags is digitally altered. The image was flagged as made with Google's AI tools and the original photos uploaded by a Philippine news outlet showed they were not carrying anything.
"I thought the victims of extrajudicial killings were supposed to be poor?" reads part of the Tagalog-language caption of a Facebook image shared on February 25, 2026.
"So much money, then they must be rich? 'IF' these are authentic… BUT! They are in Europe! You aren't allowed to bring fakes there. The only things allowed to be fake there are your face and your body."
Shared over 27,000 times, the post features a photo of three women holding what appear to be designer bags from Louis Vuitton and Moynat.
The rest of the caption breaks down the high costs of the supposed accessories.
Similar posts circulated across social media as a four-day confirmation of charges hearing kicked off at the International Criminal Court in the Hague against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte (archived link).
The proceedings will determine if he will stand trial for three counts of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s brutal crackdown on drugs.
As prosecutors and Duterte’s defence team laid out their arguments in court, demonstrators for and against the former president gathered outside, including families and supporters of drug war victims -- some previously interviewed by AFP -- who flew from Manila to witness the historic proceedings in person (archived here and here).
The claim adds to a recent wave of misinformation that cast doubt on verified accounts of drug war victims.
"You are still alive but your souls are already burning in hell because of your LIES and DECEIT against the Philippines," read one comment.
Another said: "They hit the jackpot, didn't they? Meet the Philippines' new Nepo babies."
But the circulating image is not genuine.
Manipulated with AI
A reverse image search on Google led to similar photos uploaded to Facebook on February 22 by Philippine news outlet ONE News, which said the women were family members and supporters of victims of the drug war (archived link).
Rubilyn Litan, a coordinator for the nonprofit Rise Up for Life and for Rights, along with Llore Pasco and Sheerah Escudero, both of whom lost family members to the drug war, held a press conference in The Hague a day before Duterte's hearing.
None of the images show the women carrying the luxury bags seen in the false posts.
In a statement issued on February 25, ONE News clarified that the photo "has been altered to spread false information", adding that the original image was captured by their anchor, Angela Lagunzad-Castro, who is in The Hague covering the proceedings (archived link).
"At that particular time, I didn't see any expensive bags, and they didn't have any bags when I took their picture," explained Castro later in the evening in an interview with Philippine broadcaster TV5 (archived link).
"For the entire duration that we were inside that room, I didn't see a single luxury bag."
AFP ran the photo through Google's SynthID detector, a tool designed to identify AI-generated content, which confirmed with a "very high" degree of confidence that they were created using the company's AI tools (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims related to Duterte's war on drugs.
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