NSC, DICT, DND, DOJ slam latest ‘deepfake’ PBBM video
THE National Security Council (NSC) on Monday called the video linking President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to alleged drug use as a “fabricated and malicious hoax” being peddled to the Filipino people.
In a statement, the agency said this latest effort to discredit the Chief Executive, using technology and stagement management, reveals the desperation and ulterior motive of those responsible.
“The calculated attempt to tarnish the President’s reputation and create political instability is deeply concerning and alarming. We condemn any attempts to destabilize the administration and we will resist any and all efforts to weaken our duly- constituted democratic institutions,” it noted.
The Depar tment of Justice threatened to prosecute those involved in the release and circulation of the fake video showing a man who looks like President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. snorting a white powdery substance.
DOJ spokesman Jose Dominic Clavano IV also questioned the timing of the release of the video, just hours before President Marcos Jr.’s State of the National Address (Sona), which could be intended to undermine his credibility and the speech he would deliver.
The production and dissemination of such false information are not only irresponsible but also illegal and punishable under Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code, he said.
Article 154 clearly states that “any person who, by means of printing or any other means of publication, shall publish or cause to be published as news any false news which may endanger the public order, or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State, can be held criminally liable.”
The Department of Justice is committed to upholding the law and will take all necessary actions to identify and prosecute those responsible for this deceitful act.
Clavano urged individuals and groups to refrain from further disseminating the fake video as “only serves to create unnecessary confusion and division among the public, ultimately damaging the interest and credit of the State.”
Maisug leaders deny hand in video
MEANWHILE, the nat ional leadership of the Hakbang ng Maisug, the political mass organization formed by former President Rodr igo Duter te, denied it was behind the video footage played in a private gathering among North American members of the group.
“The Hakbang ng Maisug national leadership has nothing to do with the release of the video footage showing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In the act of snorting cocaine in the Maisug gatherings in Vancouver, Canada and Los Angeles, California,” the statement said on Monday. It was signed by Duterte but it could not be immediately ascertained if his statement did come from his camp.
It said the members of Maisug leadership “is just as surprised as the rest of the country when they saw it for the first time”.
The statement did not say that the video was authentic but hinted about it when it said that “with due apologies to all the experts who vouched for the authenticity of the video, the refusal of President Marcos to undergo the hair follicle drug test is the best proof not only the video’s authenticity but worse, his addiction”.
The statement said the release of the video “was a decision made entirely by the Maisug volunteers in the two places without the knowledge and imprimatur of the Maisug organizing committee”.
Relatedly, the Department of National Defense ( DND) also called as “malicious” the obviously fake video being circulated in the Maisug gathering in Los Angeles, California and aimed at destabilizing the Marcos administration. “The obviously fake video being circulated emanating from a Maisug gathering in Los Angeles is again a maliciously crude attempt to destabilize the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. They will not succeed!” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
“Even the release of the contrived video in the USA is a cowardly attempt to escape Philippine criminal jurisdiction,” Andolong stressed.
He also urged US authorities to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this act.