Out of 35 unique altered claims identified by partners of the fact-checking coalition Tsek.ph during the Feb. 11–May 10 campaign period for national positions, 11, or nearly a third, likely involved deepfake technology to impersonate public figures or distort reality.

Political manipulation

A key concern is how high-profile public figures are being exploited to influence Monday’s elections and change public perception around the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte, as well as promote financial scams or questionable products. Many of the 11 likely deepfakes identified by Tsek.ph relied on the likeness or voice of prominent personalities. 

Politically motivated deepfakes include a manipulated video of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos in a Duterte campaign, an AI-generated endorsement for detained religious leader and Duterte-backed senatorial candidate Apollo Quiboloy, a fabricated feud between tech mogul Elon Musk and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and a fake speech in Mandarin by Vice President Sara Duterte.

Among the most recent and attention-grabbing was the deepfake video of the first lady dancing, superimposed onto a political campaign video to falsely imply she was endorsing Duterte’s senatorial slate. The video was created from an image she posted on Facebook while showing off a Marikina bag on a street in Rome where she and her husband had attended Pope Francis’ funeral.

An AI-generated Caucasian-looking avatar, created using Pippit software, was employed in a Facebook video to endorse Quiboloy’s candidacy, combining a digitally fabricated persona with false religious claims.

The deepfake featuring President Marcos Jr. and Musk used manipulated audio and video to construct a false narrative of conflict over a purported cryptocurrency platform, aiming to discredit the current administration.

These deepfakes tap into political divisions, invent foreign support, and exploit celebrity appeal to manipulate voter sentiment. By targeting both allies and rivals of important political figures, these fabrications aim to confuse voters and influence election outcomes.

Red-tagging, ICC narratives, scams

Deepfake technology has also been used to falsely link progressive candidates from the Makabayan Bloc and their allied party-list groups to communist rebels. One video falsely labeled dancing party-list nominees as New People’s Army recruiters. Another showed Rep. France Castro and lawyer Renee Co among supposed insurgents, both bearing arms. This tactic aims to create fear and prejudice among voters, which could reduce their support for these candidates.

Other deepfakes leveraged the arrest and detention of Duterte, who faces trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for crimes against humanity arising from his war on drugs. An audio-manipulated speech in Mandarin was attributed to his daughter Sara and a fabricated video statement to NBA superstar LeBron James. These AI-generated clips aim to sway sentiment around Duterte’s legal troubles. Duterte is running for mayor in Davao City.

The Commission on Elections has acknowledged the threat of generative AI and harmful content, and released Resolutions 11116 and 11064 to safeguard the integrity of Monday’s elections. Resolution 11064 regulates online campaign materials, mandates disclosure of AI use, and aims to curb disinformation. Resolution 11116 prohibits discriminatory campaign practices like Red-tagging, which deepfakes can amplify.

Deepfakes have also been exploited to promote financial scams and products, leveraging trusted images and voices like ABS-CBN’s Noli de Castro, GMA Network’s Vicky Morales, President Marcos Jr., health advocate Willie Ong, and business tycoons such as Musk and Ramon Ang.

These fakes do more than push scams. They erode public trust, particularly in the media. When news personalities appear in deepfakes, it can make viewers question whether any mainstream news is real, a tactic seemingly designed to undermine journalism, especially during elections.

Our analysis of deepfakes showed a heavy reliance on audiovisual manipulation. Ten of the 11 deepfakes included manipulated audio and 9 tampered with video. This combination—synthetic voice overlays paired with AI-manipulated or wholly generated footage—makes the content more believable and emotionally persuasive. Techniques like face-swapping in videos and generating avatars further enhance the realism of deepfakes. 

Shallowfakes leading the pack

Despite the rise in deepfake usage in the midterm elections, a significant portion of the altered media identified by Tsek.ph continues to be dominated by lower-tech manipulations or shallowfakes. Of the 35 fact checks, 24 involved easier-to-produce formats: altered video clips, doctored images and fabricated social media posts.

Fourteen directly targeted campaigns, including doctored images of candidates endorsing rivals and fabricated videos misrepresenting endorsements and campaign messages. The manipulation extended to altering screenshots of social media posts and repurposing video clips to attack opponents vying for office.

A recent shallowfake repurposed celebrity Vice Ganda’s real endorsement of senatorial candidate Benhur Abalos into multiple videos showing the noontime show host backing 12 senatorial candidates other than Abalos, plus a few non-senatorial candidates. Earlier, an edited image falsely showed Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto endorsing opponent Sarah Discaya.

The impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte became another shallowfake hotspot, with eight instances recorded. These manipulations sought to discredit the impeachment process or rally support behind her. Edited videos distorted narratives surrounding the impeachment, tampered images suggested false endorsements or opposition to the proceedings, and fabricated audio clips misrepresented public sentiment on the issue.

Following Duterte’s highly publicized arrest on March 11, three shallowfakes emerged attempting to reshape his legacy and legal challenges. These manipulations discredited testimonies from drug war victims, attacked his political adversaries, and attempted to sway public discourse around his detention. 

Another three shallowfakes exploited the increasing strain between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties. Altered images and video clips dramatizing the rift between the two families were circulated within an already polarized electorate.

Four additional shallowfakes targeted news organizations. These involved altered news reports, fabricated social media posts mimicking the style and branding of legitimate news outlets, and selectively edited video clips portraying news coverage as biased or inaccurate. 

Shallowfakes detected during the campaign period exploited low-barrier techniques. A common method involved misleading voice-overs or other audio layered on real footage. Selective cutting and splicing of footage were frequently used to misrepresent events or statements. Heavily edited screenshots and altered images also spread easily on social media. 

The ease and speed with which these shallowfakes are created and shared online make them a potent and rapidly spreading form of electoral disinformation.

But while shallowfakes remain the dominant form of electoral disinformation, the emergence of AI-driven deepfakes shows they are no longer a distant threat, but a present reality, offering new tools for political manipulation, identity theft and reputational attacks.

Pipo Gonzales is a journalism lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman and a member of the Tsek.ph secretariat. Yvonne T. Chua is an associate professor at the same university and serves as Tsek.ph coordinator.

The post AI fakery rises, but cheapfakes still rule the race appeared first on CoverStory.

Screenshots of the documents accompanied a report that first surfaced in mid-April in Taiwan, claiming that Imelda Marcos, the widow of ousted president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., sold the gold in Europe and the United States and funneled the proceeds through 18 bank accounts, reportedly worth over $100 billion, with the help of a Hong Kong-based bank.

The report also claims that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is investigating the scheme, allegedly based on documents submitted to its anti-money laundering division by a Taiwanese businessman identified only by the surname Peng.

The story has gone viral on Chinese online platforms and has been amplified in the Philippines by supporters of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte, including vlogger Claire Eden Contreras (aka Maharlika) and lawyer Harry Roque. Both have used the allegations to attack President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and revive rumors about his alleged drug use.

No comment on allegations

The HKMA has not issued a public statement on the allegations. In response to this writer’s query, it said it does not comment on individual cases.

“In line with international standards, banks in Hong Kong are required to implement effective anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism systems, taking into account their risk appetites and business operations,” the HKMA said. “Where banks identify any suspicious transactions, they are required to report to law enforcement agencies as soon as practicable for investigation and follow-up.”

The HKMA added: “It is worth noting that the investigation of crimes, as well as the tracing, restricting and confiscation of funds or property concerned, is carried out by law enforcement agencies in accordance with relevant laws and regulations in Hong Kong (e.g., the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance).”

The report emerged as the Philippines headed into a tense election season marked by deepening fractures between the Marcos and Duterte factions. It was first circulated after the March 11 arrest of Duterte, now detained in The Hague and awaiting trial before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity tied to his brutal “war on drugs.”

Chinese commentaries have framed the situation as a “Jedi counterattack,” a veiled reference to Duterte’s resilience. Some have speculated without proof that Duterte laid the groundwork for the revelations during a visit to Hong Kong just before his arrest at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The report has also been linked to rising tensions between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea. Its timing coincided with the annual Balikatan joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States, which Beijing has criticized.

According to the viral story, Peng claimed that between 2006 and 2011, Imelda Marcos authorized a housekeeper—identified in the documents as Antonia RV Indita, also known as Shirley Cua Lee Yang—to use shell companies to sell the 350 tons of gold and route the proceeds through HSBC in Hong Kong. The destination of the funds remains unclear. Peng reportedly said he was one of a dozen intermediaries from the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines who helped facilitate the transactions. He also alleged that the Marcos family had held vast quantities of gold since the 1990s.

The 350 tons of gold cited in the report far exceed the Philippines’ official reserves. As of December 2024, the Philippines recorded 130.89 tons, valued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas at $12.05 billion in February. 

Nonexistent banks 

Many of the financial institutions listed in the partial bank roster supposedly submitted by Peng to the HKMA appear to be fictitious.

Among the most glaring is a supposed “Philippine Bank of Munich” located on Chez Mouia Street in Munich, Switzerland. No such street exists, and no city or canton in Switzerland is called Munich. Munich is a city in Germany. Ruben Carranza, former commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) who led efforts that recovered $680 million in Marcos assets hidden in Switzerland, the United States, and other countries, said no such bank exists in Germany either.

“It would be such an incredible thing for any Filipino to have a bank in Europe…given the reserve requirements in the European banking system,” Carranza said.

The alleged document also lists institutions such as the “Ireland Swiss and Cork Bank” and “International Hungary Bank,” neither of which appears in official registries of licensed financial institutions. Other details raise additional suspicion. “Fern Ville,” a supposed street in Cork, Ireland—the supposed location of the Ireland Swiss and Cork Bank—is not a street but the name of a two-story home built in Cork, Ireland’s second largest city, in the 1800s, as confirmed by search engine results and online mapping tools.

A search for “Rimpau Ave” in “Forthworth, Hungary,” the claimed address of the International Hungary Bank, leads nowhere. There is no city named Forthworth in Hungary. Account numbers appearing in the alleged document also do not conform to the standard structure of the banking systems in the countries that were listed.

There are no records of banks named “Japan and Swiss Banking Corporation” or “Narita Saving and Trust” operating in Japan. “Natomishi-Nagasaki,” the listed location of the Japan Swiss and Banking Corporation, does not correspond to any known city, town or district in Japan. 

The same bank names appear in another unrelated document: a purported deed of assignment dated Sept. 6, 1985, allegedly executed by then president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Fr. Jose Antonio M. Diaz. It claims the pair assigned their rights over $500 billion in cash and gold deposits in 15 Japanese banks to a Rev. Dr. Floro E. Garcia. That document also contains numerous red flags: fabricated bank names and misspelled details. The accounts are supposedly under the name of Diaz or one of his nine alleged aliases.

Supporters of the late dictator have long tried to rationalize the Marcos family’s unexplained wealth, claiming that the so-called Tallano royal family paid Marcos and Diaz 400,000 tons of gold for legal services—a myth that has been repeatedly debunked by historians. Imelda Marcos has also attributed her husband’s fortune to gold he allegedly found after World War II, often linked to the mythical Yamashita treasure.

During the campaign for the 2022 presidential election, then candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied the existence of these treasures, saying he had seen neither.

‘Sloppy’ and ‘suspicious’

Carranza described the alleged documents cited by the latest report on the purported transactions involving the Marcos family’s alleged 350 tons of gold as “sloppy” and “suspicious on many levels.”

The listings name Ferdinand E. Marcos as the direct account holder—a move Carranza said contradicts how the family historically concealed wealth.

“Why would Ferdinand Marcos open a bank account in his name? In all the Swiss bank accounts that we’ve uncovered and some of which we recovered, you’ll never see Ferdinand Marcos as the account owner,” Carranza said.

Instead, he said, the Marcoses used layered institutions and trusted agents to obscure ownership and complicate asset recovery efforts. One screenshot in the viral report shows a letterhead with the signature of “Imelda R. Marcos” authorizing a house help to transact on her behalf. Another document contains grammatical errors and inconsistent formatting.

“No one would take you seriously,” said Carranza, pointing out that the Marcoses typically hired experienced bankers and lawyers—including the Swiss banker Bruno de Preux—to manage their finances discreetly. He said financial criminals, including scammers, rarely broadcast their schemes.

“If this person wanted money from the Marcoses, he would’ve approached them directly and said something like, ‘I’m going to blackmail you,’” Carranza said. “But this report was circulated publicly, almost like a press release…It’s suspicious on many levels.”

Carranza also said that while Hong Kong was used in the past by the Marcoses for illicit financial activity, those operations were deeply covert and routed through professional intermediaries, not anonymous online uploads. “This story is different because it doesn’t fit that pattern,” he said.

He cited a historical example from PCGG documents: kickbacks Ferdinand Marcos Sr. received from Japan’s war reparations. A year after becoming president in 1965, Marcos was said to have begun channeling the reparations program toward the public sector, manipulating it to extract 15% “rebates” or kickbacks and earning him the moniker “Mr. 15 Percent.”

According to Carranza, the operation was facilitated by retired Brig. Gen. Eulogio Balao, then chair of the war reparations committee, who routed the funds through Hong Kong before transferring them to Marcos’ Swiss accounts.

An affidavit submitted to the PCGG by Balao’s successor, former public works minister Baltazar Aquino, said the scheme generated at least $47.7 million in kickbacks between 1966 and 1971. Even while court cases were pending, Imelda Marcos traveled to Hong Kong or Shanghai under the guise of seeking traditional medicine but would meet her American lawyers, including James Linn, Carranza said.

Following the story trail

The viral claim about the Marcos family’s alleged sale and laundering of 350 tons of gold first appeared on Chinese-language websites in Taiwan. One of the earliest outlets to carry the story was Meihua Media, a site viewed by some as pro-China due to its owner’s and editors’ stance on reunification.

Published on April 17, Meihua Media’s report spread across not only Taiwan but also overseas Chinese communities through websites, some of them registered in China. For example, Taiguo.com (Thailand Network), which pushed the narrative to a Thai audience, lists Shanxi province as its registrant location, while Huaren Zhan lists Shandong.

The narrative also reached Chinese-speaking communities in the Philippines or those following developments there via Fei Hua Ba (Philippine Chinese) on Weixin and through sites like Phhua.com and Bole.ph. Asia Television News (ATV), a company registered in Kuala Lumpur with a website hosted in Hong Kong, republished the story on April 28. ATV’s report was heavily cited by Chinese-language social media accounts, helping the claim gain momentum in China.

By April 29 and 30, the story had been adapted into text and video content and shared across hundreds of accounts on major platforms: news aggregators and portal iFeng, Sohu, NetEase, Toutiao and Baidu Bajiahao; video platforms iQIYI, Haokan Video and Bilibili; social media platforms WeChat, Weibo and Douyin; and messaging platform QQ.

A short video version of the story began circulating on Philippine Facebook pages after Russia Today posted it on Weibo, drawing more than 230,000 plays. China VTV of Hong Kong later reposted it on Facebook. Among the pro-Duterte pages and groups that amplified the video were Gringo ICC Petition, Du34s, Duterte Seafarer’s Club and PRRD–The Greatest, one of whose page administrators is listed as based in China. China Youth Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China, posted the video on TikTok on April 30, helping it reach audiences outside China. TikTok does not operate in China.

On X (formerly Twitter), English-language versions appeared through accounts like ShanghaiEye, affiliated with the state-owned Shanghai Media Group, and a newly created pro-Duterte account named Taylor Cayetano. These posts helped spread the claim beyond Chinese-language circles.

Several English-language Facebook accounts echoed the narrative using content posted by Asia Today, a self-described news page linking to a questionable website.

The story gained further traction in the Philippines on Labor Day when former Duterte spokesman Roque and vlogger Contreras repeated the allegations in video posts. These were picked up by Bombo Radyo, Politiko and Abogado. Contreras posted a follow-up video on May 2.

On Philippine social media, reactions were sharply divided. Some mocked the Marcos family, others expressed outrage at the story’s lack of media coverage, and a few treated it as part of a supposed Duterte counterattack.

Persisting gold myth 

Carranza said the reemergence of the Marcos gold narrative serves to manufacture legitimacy and obscure historical accountability. He said that despite rulings by Philippine and foreign courts declaring the family’s wealth illegal, the Marcoses have continued pushing the idea that their unexplained riches stem from gold and not corruption.

The former PCGG commissioner lamented that many Filipinos continue to fall for the myth, with scammers exploiting it to solicit payments from those hoping to claim a “share” of the Marcos gold.

“But you see Bongbong Marcos laugh it off on TV, saying, ‘I don’t know about that.’ If you didn’t and they’re using your name, shouldn’t you ask them to be investigated?” Carranza said, referring to the President by his nickname. “This is syndicated estafa.”

He said the Marcoses are avoiding an inquiry that would open up a deeper discussion into their alleged crimes.

Carranza also said that while the Marcoses and Dutertes have been attacking one another over a range of issues, they have avoided exposing transactions and specific acts of corruption that would implicate not only themselves but also their allies and cronies whose support they need, especially in the 2028 presidential election.

On why the myth of the Marcos gold persists, Carranza recalled a theory once shared by the late former PCGG chair Haydee Yorac. “She would always say that the Marcoses wanted to exaggerate and even just create these myths about having gold. That was just the way for them to cover up their stealing,” he said, adding:

“So, for [anyone] to take that seriously would precisely fall into the trap laid by the Marcoses.”

Yvonne T. Chua is an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the project coordinator of Tsek.ph.

The post Phantom banks, shaky claims undercut viral report on Marcos gold appeared first on CoverStory.

The oil companies were given six months to pull out after submission of an updated comprehensive relocation plan.  

The high court ruled that Manila City Ordinance 8187 (signed by Mayor Alfredo Lim) reclassifying the area as a heavy industrial zone was unconstitutional and invalid, and upheld Manila City Ordinance 8027 (signed by Mayor Lito Atienza), which reclassified portions of Pandacan and Santa Ana from industrial to residential and commercial areas.

More than a decade later, as I pass the site to and from various errands, I wonder what has become of the promises, proposals and counterproposals made by individuals and groups jostling to get portions of the 33-hectare land on the banks of the Pasig River just downstream from the country’s seat of power.

The district of Pandacan was established in 1574 by the Spanish colonizers as a Franciscan mission. In 1712, it was declared a separate parish from Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc. Many miracles have been attributed to the Santo Niño, whose image local children found in its marshland.

Farmers, laborers, artists

Pandacan was a farming community that sold its crops of rice and sugar to Spanish officials in Intramuros. The locals also produced bricks and tiles, cotton laces, shoes, clothes, and small boats. 

A study conducted on 19th-century labor in Manila yielded a surprising result: Pandacan was the only district in “Extramuros” that was split almost exactly down the middle between male and female labor. Its people were seamstresses, tailors, barbers, carpenters, boatmen, lechoneros, bakers, shoemakers, small business owners—what we would now call entrepreneurs.

The Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas was established in 1882. Some streets still bear names like “Industria” (industry) and “Labores” (work).

The district was also called “Little Venice” or “Little Italy,” partly because of the many Pasig River tributaries and also because of the profusion of literary and musical talent that thrived here. The “Father of Philippine Poetry,” Francisco Balagtas, migrated here from Bulacan and famously dedicated his writings to his muse, Selya, as the boat they rode skimmed the waters of the Beata River. National hero Jose Rizal frequented the area because of his work as a surveyor, and later, when he asked the “Father of Philippine Opera,” Ladislao Bonus, to put his poetry to music. Rizal also set a scene in “Noli Me Tangere” in Pandacan: where Elias and Ibarra make their escape.

Operas such as “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi were performed in a cockpit that doubled as an outdoor performance space colloquially called “Teatro Sipon,” which drew audiences from near and far.

The all-female Orkestrang Babae was established by Maestro Raymundo Fermin here. Banda Zamora, founded by Santos Daramidam in 1925, continues its advocacy of honing the musical talents of marching band members to this day.

It is also the birthplace of one of the martyr priests, Jacinto Zamora. Six Katipuneros were captured and executed here by the Spanish in Aug. 30,1896. And the “Sublime Paralytic,” Apolinario Mabini, migrated here from his native Batangas and eventually died here. 

In the early part of the 20th century, bucolic scenes of fields and mangroves gave way to industry, with the opening of the riverside area to the oil companies Shell, Caltex (Chevron), and Petron.

In 1942, as World War II raged, Japanese troops set the depots ablaze. After the Liberation of Manila in 1945, the area was reconstructed and operations eventually led to the storage of more than 313 million liters of gasoline, diesel, bunker oil, LPG, aviation jet fuel and other potentially hazardous chemicals.

Threat to life and livelihood

The concentration of hazardous substances in such a densely populated and precarious location, including their transportation by tankers from the depot to different parts of Metro Manila, became a source of concern for environmental and health impacts.

Over the years, various incidents occurred of oil leakage from the underground pipeline connecting the Batangas oil refinery to Pandacan, oil spills in the waterways, and tanker fires around Metro Manila.

A 2005 study by the University of the Philippines’ College of Medicine found a progressive rise in the number of cases of neurophysical disorders in the area. In the same year, a health survey assessed that the air in and around the depot contained high levels of benzene. A gasoline additive, benzene increases the risk of cancer and adversely affects the nervous, respiratory, and immune systems.

The attacks in the United States on 9/11, or Sept. 11, 2001, gave rise to more concerns about the vulnerability of the area to terror attacks, considering the dense concentrations of highly volatile substances.

Another concern was the anticipated effect of “The Big One,” or the earthquake forecast to be about 7.2 in magnitude in the National Capital Region, on the depot.

Of course, fears were raised of higher prices of oil products and logistical challenges as well as the loss of direct and indirect income from the withdrawal of the big oil companies. But these have since been proven unfounded. In the ensuing years, due to the absence of a high-risk industry in the district, more businesses have opened, including a big Mercury Drug mini-mart, branches of Jollibee and Dunkin’ Donuts, several small franchises, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

After most of the oil tanks were dismantled, there has barely been news on plans for the area owned by the Philippine National Oil Company. In 2019, commercial giant Ramon Ang proposed to build and operate a transport and food terminal at the site; it was envisioned to be directly connected to the Skyway expansion project aimed at decongesting vehicular traffic in Metro Manila.

Vulnerability assessment

In July 2019, the lawyer Donna Z. Gasgonia issued a report on the vulnerability assessment of the Pandacan Oil Depot. In it, she points out that the depot is located in a Planned Unit Development/Overlay Zone and, as such, requires a site plan in which buildings should be constructed with designs complementing land use. This will be conducive to an integrated community with usable open spaces and where significant land features, like easement of waterways along the Pasig River, should be preserved.

From focused group discussions held in April and June 2019, the desired developments fall under three categories: academic, through the creation of a university complex; health, through the creation of a health center or improved health facilities; and housing, through the construction of an affordable residential complex for long-term Pandacan residents.

Gasgonia recommended an ecosystems-based approach for land use planning, or the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, considering the area’s vulnerability to sea-level rise (flooding). 

She said the City Planning and Development Office had crafted the Pandacan SPARC (Strategic Priority for Area Regeneration and Collaboration), considering that the former oil depot is a Brownfield area—or contaminated land left abandoned and undeveloped. Much work must be done before any livable structures can be established, she pointed out.

The big question now is: What is the status of the remediation from soil and water contamination, and the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the area?

These must be undertaken for any sustainable development—one that provides all sectors opportunities for not only economic but also social and cultural benefits—to occur.

A pass-by place

But it seems that in the 21st century, Pandacan has become only a place to drive through or drive by, with bridges and flyovers helping get people to and from their destinations.

Itinerant dwellers squeeze into bed spaces with complete strangers just to recover their strength before heading to work again the next day.

Old folks like my father, who was born and grew up in Pandacan, recall how the district was so close-knit that residents were known by nicknames like “Daga,” “Asukal,” “Kalabaw,” or “Mata” for generations. Alas, many have left their old houses or been driven out by expansion, mostly in favor of wider roads and byways. They return in January for the fiesta in honor of the Santo Niño, to a place that looks and feels less and less familiar. 

The flowing waters and rich vegetation have been replaced by metal and concrete, strangling trees and rivers—in effect, suffocating the residents.

I am hypnotized by the constant traffic going in one direction above those going in the opposite direction on the skyways that tower over two- and three-story houses where about 85,000 residents are huddled around creeks and esquinitas. 

And now the elections are coming, and a whopping 11 candidates are vying to become mayor of Manila.

I wonder: What will happen to this once-illustrious part of the capital city?

The post Manila’s historic district of Pandacan, once known as ‘Little Italy,’ is in limbo appeared first on CoverStory.

Pilot whales, or Globicephala macrorhynchus, can dive to a depth of 1,000 meters in search of a good meal. They are one of 72 species of toothed whales in the dolphin family that are night eaters. They enjoy eating dinner like a king, their diet consisting of generous servings of squid and octopus and some mackerel and cod. 

The dolphin found by fishers in Pangasinan waters early on April 8 could no longer swim, dive, or eat. It was still young but was slowed and weakened by almost a kilo of plastics lodged in its gut. It expired at a little past 8 a.m.

According to the necropsy results, the dolphin likely died from starvation. The first chamber of the stomach, where the primary breakdown of food occurs, was empty. The digestive tract was so fatally obstructed that the dolphin could no longer take in food. Cut open, the carcass’ ventral side exposed a thick sludge of latex and cellophane so thick that the intestines could barely be seen. 

Dr. Arnold dela Cruz, the Alaminos City veterinarian who performed the necropsy, thinks it was the small empty plastic bottle of bleach that finally killed the dolphin.

The vet said the dolphin was emaciated—a telltale sign of starvation. “Its dorsal part was thin, with a distinct peanut-shaped head.” (In dolphin terms, a peanut head is a condition marked by extreme loss of fat. The dolphin’s head was marked by a hollow area behind the blowhole, looking like the dip in a peanut shell.) 

Marine researchers Susanne Kühn and Jan Andries van Franeker of the Wageningen Marine Research in the Netherlands found that 61% of toothed whales ingest marine litter. Of the 2,495 dolphins they studied, 205 were found to have ingested plastics. 

Plastics begin to accumulate and take up space inside a dolphin’s body. Left undigested over time, the plastic buildup creates a false sense of satiation, tricking the dolphin into believing it is already full when it’s not. Soon, the plastics begin to act like a parasite, depriving the host of the vital nutrients it gets from feeding on actual prey.

Prey or plastic?

In a day, a dolphin eats at a rate of 4% to 5.9% of its body weight. A mature female of 1,000 kilograms, for example, can consume a daily equivalent of an entire sack of rice and still want more for its satisfaction. With an appetite that big, and with millions of tons of marine litter available, the dolphin would find it impossible to be a picky eater, especially because it swallows its food whole. 

A dolphin does not chew its food. It has teeth, seven to nine each in a row, but it lets its stomach do the chewing. This is why finding nasty garbage in its gut is not unusual. 

And it cannot tell a grocery bag from a squid, or a five-fingered latex glove from an eight-armed octopus. 

This is not to say that pilot whales are dumb. Pilot whales, in fact, have twice as many neurons as humans, and brains double the size as ours. But, just like us, they get confused, too.

Every day, around 2,000 truckloads of plastic waste are dumped into oceans, rivers, and lakes, making it increasingly confusing for pilot whales to tell which is prey and which is plastic. 

Also, pilot whales are deep-diving feeders. They can plunge to the bottom of the ocean foraging for food. At below 800 meters, they can reach an extremely dark place where it is perpetually midnight. Thus, instead of sight, they rely on sound to start their evening hunt. 

Pilot whales have a highly developed sense of hearing that helps them navigate the abyss—a sensory ability called echolocation. (Think bats but underwater.) They capture tonal signals to track their target. They emit sound waves by vibrating their phonic lips—basically, their nostrils tucked below the blowhole creating clicks and whistles—and amplify these sounds through their bulbous head (called melon). Auditory signals—or acoustic signatures, in the term of experts—help them make a mental map of their surroundings, especially in the presence of their prey. 

They are sufficiently sensitive to their prey’s acoustic signatures to spot a giant squid lurking on the ocean floor. But certain plastic debris can mimic the acoustic signatures of prey. Thus, they can hardly tell the difference between a cephalopod and cellophane.

Playful accidents

A dolphin’s lethal interaction with plastics does not always occur as accidental swallows during a meal. Sometimes, it happens during playtime. 

Two psychologists from the University of Southern Mississippi, Stan A. Kuczaj and Lauren E. Highfill, studied the collaborative behavior of dolphins at play. One day, while snorkeling, they encountered three wild-toothed dolphins—a juvenile and two adults—swimming nearby. 

One adult was trailing a piece of plastic from one of its lower fins. It passed the plastic to its fluke (or tail) and let it go for the second adult to catch with its mouth. This second adult then swam ahead of the others, released the plastic, and passed it to the trailing adult to catch it again with its fin. The two adults kept taking turns, and occasionally passed the plastic near the juvenile’s mouth. 

This playful exchange—as if playing ball in the open sea—went on for the next 15 minutes. In observing the dolphins’ interaction, the two psychologists realized that the rule of the game was not competition but cooperative play.

Dolphins are naturally playful creatures. But while their playing with plastics may seem enjoyable to watch, plastics now present a serious threat to their survival.

Global pandemic

Plastics can be disposed of very quickly but they take 500 years to decompose. Plastics have created a global problem that is now turning into a silent pandemic.

One human dies every 30 seconds from diseases related to mismanaged waste. Make that a year, and there are a million lives lost. Unfortunately, the growing number of deaths has been dangerously high in low- and middle-income countries like the Philippines. 

While there is a growing consensus that plastic pollution is dangerous to human health, the production of plastic worldwide is relentless. The United Nations Environment Program predicts that from 1950 to 2050, the global plastic production could reach 34,000 million tons. Yet, only less than 10% of plastics gets recycled. And the remaining plastics? There’s a high chance they add to nearly 200 million tons of plastics now polluting Earth’s oceans.

These plastic wastes weather time, breaking down into tiny particles that drift into oceans and other bodies of waters like plankton. They continue their aimless voyage until a hungry fish mistakes them for food. Eventually, the fish ends up on our plate, we eat it, and, with it, the tiny plastics slip into our mouths, down our throats, and eventually swim into our bloodstream. 

Microplastics have long become part of the human diet, just as they have for the dolphins’ meals. Every day, a person ingests approximately 106-142 microplastic particles from food and drinks. If inhalation is added, the number nearly doubles. 

These current trends reveal how marine pollution has drastically worsened since plastics were left at humanity’s disposal. Plastics are now virtually everywhere, and they get inside us through the mouth, nose, and skin. They come from t-shirts to toothbrushes, from Q-tips to floss, from the Mariana Trench to the Himalayas. They are so ubiquitous that there is an entirely new ecosystem known as “plastisphere.”

As we enter this new space, a word of warning: The plastisphere can be a joyless, ruthless place. It is where the plastic lives and the dolphin dies. And death is not the dolphin’s fate alone.

Read more: Dolphin discovery hints at unexplored biodiversity-rich marine habitat

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At the foot of Mount Makiling in this part of the UPLB campus, towering trees greeted everyone alighting from the jeepney. Many trees stood behind the gates of the Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG), casting great shadows as a gentle breeze led the leaves in a subtle dance.

According to legend, the goddess Maria Makiling, with her long black hair and olive skin, made the mountain her home. She provided food for the villagers and cared for the sick, and they were grateful for her kindness. 

But the legend also goes that Maria Makiling disappeared and was never seen again. Some say it was because of a mortal man’s betrayal of their love; others believe she vanished because of humanity’s disregard for nature, and now watches over the mountain as its guardian.

The 300-hectare Makiling Botanic Gardens, where different species of native, endemic, and exotic plants and trees can be found, is also aimed at protecting the flora and fauna on the mountaintop. It is divided into stations, each featuring a distinct grouping of flora, such as the Philippinensis Row, the Dipterocarp Arboretum, as well as a collection of palm and bamboo.

The MBG is part of the 4,244-hectare Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, which was declared an Asean Heritage Park in 2013. Per the Asean Center for Biodiversity, heritage parks are “protected areas of high conservation importance, preserving in total a complete spectrum of representative ecosystems” in Southeast Asia.

There are 2,038 known species of flora in the Makiling forest reserve.

The MBG allows nature education and recreation activities for the public. An entrance fee of P45 for students and P60 for regular visitors is collected for the garden’s maintenance. Guided tours, led by trained UPLB students, are also offered for a fee of P300.

Exploring the garden

“Take nothing but pictures. Kill nothing but time. Leave nothing but footprints,” our tour guide, a forestry student, began.

The tour primarily focused on the background of the MBG and an introduction to the flora and fauna in it. 

Nestled near the garden’s entrance, the magenta Kapa-kapa flowers stood out against a backdrop of varying shades of green. The Kapa-kapa is endemic to, or grows naturally only in, the Philippines. It is featured on the P10 coin.

“This is its main flower and its sepal,” the guide said, pointing to the cape-like part of the Kapa-kapa. “Essentially, the main purpose [of the sepal] is to protect the flowers and attract pollinators, which is why it has a vibrant color.” 

A few steps further, two Bagtikan trees—dipterocarps known for two-winged fruit—stand side by side.

The fact that the fruit is two-winged “helps the species to disperse widely,” the guide said. “Dipterocarps are also usually the home of Philippine eagles because they grow straight and reach such great heights.” 

The MBG was officially established in 1963 under Republic Act No. 3523, to support professional instruction and research in forestry and plant sciences while also serving tourism, education, and public recreation.

“For UPLB, the garden aims to serve as an outdoor laboratory, especially to us forestry students. We practice taxonomy of forest plants here,” the guide said.

“This is a Mangkono or Philippine ironwood,” he said, pointing at a tree. (He introduced the flora in the way that environment advocate Celine Murillo, who features Philippine biodiversity in her work, does.)

The presence of the Mangkono indicates that “an area is rich in minerals,” the guide said. “Experts say that cutting down this tree usually takes three to five days due to its hardness.” 

Beside the Mangkono stands a tree that appears to grow candles on its branches—the candle tree, native to Panama. The guide said its candle-like fruit is edible, but no one among us had the courage to try it. 

The tour continued to the National Corner where some of the Philippines’ national symbols are featured, such as Sampaguita and Anahaw. 

Forest musical

As we ventured deeper into the garden, the air became noticeably cooler. The buzz of unfamiliar insects grew louder, occasionally joined by the humming of birds. The sound of a creek gently flowing added to what seemed like a forest musical.

“This is the Molawin Creek. The water is a bit murky because it just rained,” the guide said.

A concrete stairway leads down to the creek. Around it, images of various endemic birds commonly seen on Mount Makiling are displayed, such as the Luzon Bleeding Heart and Tarictic Hornbill.

In a 2013 paper published in the Journal of Nature Studies, UPLB researchers wrote that Mount Makiling is home to 120 bird species, 50 mammal species, 19 reptile species, and six amphibian species.

Both the dipterocarp forest and palm plantation are located in the upper part of the MBG and are visited by scientists and researchers. 

But beyond learning about the garden’s rich flora and fauna is the comfort of being surrounded by thriving forms of life. 

The tour, though brief, was a rare experience. Being introduced to various plant species, both familiar and unfamiliar, was enough to make one realize their value in the environment. 

The MBG opens its doors to give the public this opportunity of discovery.

“Conserve and protect our forest,” the guide said, concluding our tour.

Isa Jane Acabal, a journalism student of the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication in Diliman, is an intern at CoverStory.ph.

Read more: Breathing in the great outdoors

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Fabricated accounts described his condition as dire: critically low blood pressure (80/50 mmHg), erratic heart rate (up to 110 beats per minute), dangerously high blood sugar (328 mg/dL) and signs of kidney failure. 

With his life said to be hanging in the balance, Duterte was allegedly rushed to the same detention clinic where former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević “mysteriously” died in 2006 while being tried for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. He was reportedly denied proper medication or given “inferior” generic drugs—some allegedly with strong toxic side effects—portraying him as yet another victim of so-called “medical violence,” supposedly like Milošević. 

These narratives, laced with military intrigue and civil unrest, have gained traction across China’s information ecosystem. The pro-China Duterte, who turned 80 on March 28, has been recast not as a controversial leader facing justice but as a martyr of Western oppression—with the Marcos administration painted as complicit. 

Manipulated media, mass protests, military claims 

Agence France-Presse (AFP), a partner of the fact-checking collaboration Tsek.ph, flagged several viral falsehoods circulating on Chinese online platforms after Duterte’s arrest.  

One featured a doctored video of Vice President Sara Duterte supposedly defending her father in fluent Mandarin. The footage, originally from her English-language press briefing outside the ICC in The Hague, was dubbed with Mandarin to appeal to pro-Duterte Chinese audiences. 

Another false claim alleged that Duterte had urged the ICC to prosecute US and Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes. But during his March 14 appearance before the ICC, he merely confirmed his identity and birthdate. The next stage of proceedings is set for Sept. 23. 

AFP also uncovered disinformation using recycled images to falsely depict mass protests backing Duterte or opposing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—applying tactics similar to those in the Philippine blogosphere. One video reused a 2015 image from a demonstration held during then President Benigno Aquino III’s final State of the Nation Address, falsely claiming it showed millions of Filipinos demanding Marcos’ resignation. Others misrepresented a January 2025 Iglesia Ni Cristo rally opposing efforts to impeach the vice president and a 2023 antigovernment protest in Warsaw as pro-Duterte demonstrations in Manila. 

Additional posts falsely suggested that the military was mobilizing in support of Duterte. One claimed that troops in Davao City threatened to march on Manila and attack the capital, while another alleged soldiers vowed to “slaughter the Marcos family” over his arrest. AFP traced one of the images to 2017, showing Duterte saluting troops after the Marawi siege. 

Disinfo highways 

AFP found these claims mostly on Weibo, a microblogging platform; video-sharing sites like TikTok, Douyin and Kuaishou; WeChat, a multipurpose app for messaging, social media and payments; and Baijiahao, Baidu’s content platform. Some of the content has also spread to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Threads. 

Further research by the author found more claims on other Chinese platforms: Sina, another microblogging platform; Haokan, a short-video platform; Toutiao, Zhihu, Netease and Sohu, which function as content or information hubs. Erroneous reports also appeared on QQ, an instant messaging service and web portal. 

False reports about Duterte’s rapid health decline—including the hoax that he had fallen into a coma—circulated on Baijiahao, TikTok, Douyin, Netease, Weibo, Zhihu and even X.  

One dramatic account falsely claimed that an ICC judge sneered at Sara Duterte when she attempted to present her father’s medical records, allegedly saying, “Your father is pretending.”  

No such exchange took place, but the fabricated quote sparked outrage in Chinese comment sections and was repeatedly cited as evidence of judicial cruelty. In reality, an ICC doctor had found Duterte mentally aware and medically fit during a checkup. 

Duterte is detained and marked his 80th birthday at the Scheveningen facility, where Milošević was held from 2001 to 2006 while on trial before the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 

The former Yugoslav leader died in his cell. A United Nations inquiry found that his death was due to natural causes, specifically a heart attack, and not the result of murder, poisoning or external violence.  

‘Civil war’ 

As the volume of posts grew, the framing shifted toward open conflict. 

The term “civil war” began to recur, with claims that the Philippines was either on the brink of full-scale turmoil or already mired in “small-scale” internal strife. 

False narratives of military dissent proliferated. Posts alleged that seven military commanders had “defected,” while others claimed that soldiers had publicly declared they would defy Malacañang, supposedly saying, “Gun barrels do not recognize the President’s order.” 

Some Chinese netizens also claimed that guns and ammunition were becoming scarce in the Philippines, with black market prices in Mindanao allegedly tripling overnight. 

According to these posts, the rising anger was partly fueled by the Senate’s supposed decision on March 20 declaring Duterte’s arrest legal, and by the Duterte family’s reported decision to “give up the parliamentary struggle.” 

In fact, it was officials from the executive branch who told the Senate foreign relations committee—convened by Marcos’ sister, reelectionist senator Imee Marcos—that the arrest was legal. 

Senator Marcos later withdrew from the administration’s senatorial slate, Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, citing Duterte’s arrest. On March 28, she announced that her committee had found “glaring violations” in the handling of the former president’s arrest. 

‘Quid pro quo’ 

Amid the swirl of Duterte-related disinformation on Chinese digital media platforms, a parallel narrative emerged—this time involving First Lady Liza Marcos.  

Unverified claims began circulating not only among Filipinos but also among Chinese netizens, suggesting that Marcos was briefly detained by US customs officers at Los Angeles International Airport on March 11 (other accounts said March 12), the day Duterte was arrested by Interpol.  

According to one widely shared post, she was subjected to a humiliating bag search and treated “like a suspect.” Some posts framed the incident under the sensational headline, “First Lady detained for drug-related offenses,” while others linked it to the death of Paolo Tantoco, an executive of Rustan Commercial Corp., in Los Angeles, California. Tantoco’s wife, Dina, serves as deputy social secretary at the Office of the President. 

Malacañang has denied that the first lady was held by law enforcers in the United States, saying she returned to Manila on March 10 after participating in events held in Miami, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, from March 5 to 8. 

Despite official denials, scattered posts about Mrs. Marcos’ alleged detention were woven into a broader theory circulating on Chinese platforms: that the United States had pressured President Marcos Jr. into cooperating with the ICC in exchange for “accommodation” in his wife’s case, including possible release or legal leniency. 

‘Token of allegiance’ 

In online discussions, the alleged quid pro quo was also framed as a “token of allegiance.” Under this framing, Duterte—viewed as a longtime China-leaning figure and critic of US military influence—was the price Marcos paid to signal a pivot toward a more openly anti-China foreign policy in return for US support. 

The narrative has taken hold in parts of China’s online sphere, where Duterte’s arrest is seen not as justice, but as a strategy allegedly orchestrated by the US, with Marcos portrayed as a willing partner. 

Strangely, while some posts explicitly accused the US of manipulating both the ICC and the Marcos government to provoke regional conflict and consolidate its global hegemony, others revived former US president Donald Trump’s 2018 speech at the United Nations General Assembly shortly after Duterte’s arrest.  

In that speech, Trump criticized the international tribunal, saying, “As far as America is concerned, the ICC has no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority. The ICC claims near-universal jurisdiction over the citizens of every country, violating all principles of justice, fairness and due process. We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy.” 

Several Chinese accounts inserted the voice clip into an unrelated video of Trump in the Oval Office wearing a yellow tie, falsely presenting it as his reaction to Duterte’s arrest. Trump has not commented on the incident. Footage from his 2018 speech, where the audio was taken, shows he was wearing a red tie. 

Countering Sino disinfo 

China has enacted a wide-ranging set of laws and administrative measures to curb disinformation, particularly in the online space. 

Under China’s Criminal Law, individuals found guilty of spreading false information that disrupts public order or harms reputations may face imprisonment or fines. The law imposes specific penalties for fabricating reports about disasters, epidemics or public security incidents—acts seen as particularly destabilizing. 

The Cybersecurity Law and related content regulations require platforms to monitor and remove false or harmful content that may disrupt social stability, with penalties ranging from hefty fines and operational suspension to license revocations.  

More recent provisions, including the 2023 deep synthesis regulations, target AI-generated disinformation, mandating clear labeling of synthetic content and enabling criminal charges for deep fakes used in fraud or defamation. 

Fact-checking initiatives have also emerged within this ecosystem. For instance, The Paper, a digital publication run by the state-owned Shanghai United Media Group, has also debunked misleading claims of dissent within the Philippine military following Duterte’s arrest.  

Despite China’s legal architecture and fact-checking attempts, disinformation continues to thrive across China’s digital landscape. 

In a 2022 interview, Jia Qingguo, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former dean of Peking University’s School of International Studies, warned that rampant disinformation in China was not only polarizing Chinese public opinion but also fueling tensions between China and other countries. 

Yvonne T. Chua is an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the project coordinator of Tsek.ph.

Read more: Duterte arrest sparks disinformation surge, spinning tales in his favor

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Fact checks on spurious posts about Duterte’s arrest in Manila and his subsequent transfer to The Hague in the Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his brutal antidrug war now account for nearly a quarter of the 127 articles curated from Tsek.ph partners since early February. These have surpassed the two dozen articles (18%) related to the impeachment of Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, aggregated over a six-week period. 

Tsek.ph, the country’s pioneering fact-checking collaboration, relaunched on Feb. 7 in time for the midterm elections in May. It comprises 24 partners from the media, academe and civil society, including five news organizations credentialed by the International Fact-Checking Network.

Deceptive narratives, mostly favorable to the 79-year-old Duterte (83%), began flooding online platforms hours after he arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Hong Kong. Duterte is running for mayor of Davao City, the family bailiwick, in May.

Viral narratives included outright fabrications of local and international support for the former president and condemnation of his arrest. These were often presented through bogus statements in quote cards or articles bearing the logos of international news organizations, and misrepresented videos of unrelated events. Some clips falsely suggested that Duterte supporters were gathering in Manila, Mindanao and the Netherlands, framing the footage as a prelude to another “people power” movement.

Bogus quotes

TV host and comedian Vice Ganda was among the first victims of this massive disinformation campaign. On the day of Duterte’s arrest, a post featuring the celebrity’s image alongside a fabricated quote praising Duterte’s leadership in the war on drugs and the Covid-19 pandemic began circulating on Facebook, TikTok and X. One TikTok post alone garnered 1.6 million views, while several Facebook posts collectively amassed 84,117 shares, according to Tsek.ph partners.

At least three manufactured statements attributed to reelected US President Donald Trump have been flagged in fact checks. The logos of The New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC and Fox News were misappropriated to glorify Duterte and justify his violent antidrug campaign, which left thousands of civilians dead. 

One of these fake statements depicted Trump vilifying his predecessor, Joe Biden, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., threatening to impose hefty tariffs on the Philippines if it failed to bring Duterte home.

Satirical posts from Reddit and other social media platforms about fictional lawyers from popular American television series or movies supporting Duterte were later passed off as real by large pro-Duterte online communities, such as “Protect Vice President Sara Duterte,” a Facebook group with more than 173,500 members. PressOnePH, a Tsek.ph partner, also flagged what appeared to be dummy Facebook accounts spreading the false claims.

Quote cards purportedly from CNN and Fox News featured fictional characters such as Elle Woods (“Legally Blonde”), Saul Goodman (“Better Call Saul”), Annalise Keating (“How to Get Away with Murder”), and Harvey Specter and Mike Ross (“Suits”), portraying them as real lawyers backing Duterte.

Misleading videos

Old videos of domestic and foreign events unrelated to the former president’s arrest were mispresented as massive pro-Duterte rallies. The falsehoods were inserted primarily in the title, text overlay, or caption.

For instance, a YouTube video from sports media outlet ESPN FC showing four million Argentinians marching in Buenos Aires to celebrate their 2022 FIFA World Cup victory was intentionally misreported as a pro-Duterte rally on Recto Avenue in Manila. Similarly, footage of Serbian protesters demonstrating against their government on March 1 was falsely touted as protests in The Hague against Duterte’s detention.

At home, a video purportedly showing a prayer rally for Duterte in Sultan Kudarat on March 11, the day of his arrest, was actually a clip of students participating in the 2025 Regional Schools Press Conference at the Sultan Kudarat Gymnasium.

A BBC News broadcast from the day before Duterte’s arrest, reporting that the ICC “has not publicized the warrant yet,” was misused in posts falsely claiming that the ICC had denied issuing a warrant.

Some posts falsely claimed that the charges against Duterte had been dismissed. A Facebook reel twisted the facts of a July 2023 PTV report about the ICC’s rejection of the Philippines’ appeal to suspend its investigation into Duterte’s drug war.

Targeting the First Lady

To frame Duterte’s March 11 arrest as premeditated, his supporters circulated a photo of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos with two women, falsely identifying them as ICC Pre-Trial Chamber judges who signed the arrest warrant. 

Katrina Roman Quintas, president of luxury travel service Quintas-Mayenberger Inc., was mislabeled as Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc, and Katrina Ponce Enrile, administrator of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority and daughter of chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile, as Judge Socorro Flores Liera. 

The photo was actually taken at the Manila International Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, in early March.

Duterte appeared before Judges Motoc, Liera and Reine Alapini-Gansou on March 14 via video link from the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague, where he is being held. The chamber has scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing on Sept. 23.

False or misleading claims surrounding Duterte’s arrest were overwhelmingly cross-posted, with 92% appearing on at least two platforms.

Facebook was the main driver (73%), reflecting trends from previous Philippine elections. TikTok’s reach, now significant among Filipinos, accounted for 43%. 

Other platforms hosting the erroneous posts included Instagram and YouTube (20% each), X (17%) and Threads (7%), Meta’s text-based app launched in July 2023.

‘Kidnapping’ narrative

Even before the Duterte family publicly denounced his arrest as a “kidnapping,” a coordinated online campaign was already in motion, according to Philstar.com, a Tsek.ph partner.

It identified at least 200 Facebook accounts and pages that simultaneously posted identical messages—both before and after Duterte’s arrest—framing any potential law enforcement action related to the ICC warrant as “kidnapping” and “illegal detention.”

Philstar.com noted that this pattern, unfolding largely within a 12-hour window, strongly indicated a “copypasta” disinformation strategy.

In the weeks preceding his arrest and since the campaign period for national elections opened on Feb. 11, disinformation about political rallies, including those purportedly held by PDP-Laban chaired by Duterte, spread online. Several cases highlight the growing use of edited or misattributed videos to create a false impression of widespread support for the former president.

One such case involved a doctored video from the proclamation rally of the administration-backed Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas for its senatorial candidates in Ilocos Norte on Feb. 11. 

A TikTok video fraudulently reported that the Alyansa rally took place in Iloilo and misrepresented the crowd as chanting “Duterte!” However, a review of the original footage confirmed that the audio had been altered, replacing chants for Marcos with those for his predecessor.

Ironically, during the 2022 presidential election, Marcos supporters edited the audio of a video from opposition presidential candidate Leni Robredo’s proclamation rally in Naga City, replacing it with chants for Marcos.

Likewise, the audio of a video taken on July 23, 2023, during the Zevra Festival, an annual music concert held in Spain, was replaced with a recording of people chanting in support of Duterte. The manipulated video was circulated days after PDP-Laban’s proclamation rally in San Juan City on Feb. 13.

In yet another instance, a viral drone video purportedly showed a massive crowd gathered in Mandaue City, Cebu, for a pro-Duterte event called the “Cebu People’s Indignation Rally.” Tsek.ph partners confirmed that the footage came from a Planetshakers concert held in Cebu in February 2024.

Tsek.ph partners have also identified instances of synthetic images—created using generative artificial intelligence—circulating among pro-Duterte groups on social media.

Several AI-generated images depicting massive crowds supposedly rallying behind “Duterte senators” have spread across Facebook. Meanwhile, multiple Facebook pages shared an AI-generated photo of a sculpture of Duterte, designed to appear imposing, alongside a supposed wood sculptor in a workshop.

Sara Duterte’s impeachment

Disinformation also targeted Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment. 

Sara Duterte became the first Philippine vice president to be impeached when 240 members of the House of Representatives signed a fourth impeachment complaint against her, citing allegations of fund misuse, unexplained wealth, alleged murder plots, and betrayal of public trust.

A manipulated photo falsely depicted the former president wearing a judicial robe at the Supreme Court, suggesting he would represent his daughter at her impeachment trial. In reality, a photo of Duterte’s face had been superimposed onto a January 2024 photo of Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo officiating at an oath-taking ceremony.

The posts amassed 918,400 shares and 32,515 reactions on Facebook alone, along with 603,208 views and 38,700 reactions on TikTok.

Like her father, the Vice President has a foreign leader supposedly objecting to her impeachment: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

A TikTok user has falsely hailed Sara Duterte as the country’s new president. Her followers also released misleading videos claiming that the Supreme Court had blocked the presentation of evidence supporting the impeachment complaint and had declared her impeachment “null and void.” 

They went as far as saying the Senate had canceled her impeachment. The senators are set to convene as an impeachment court and take their oath on June 3.

Lawmakers under fire

House members who signed the impeachment complaint against the Vice President also became targets of disinformation.

A YouTube video falsely said Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro and the House have withdrawn from prosecuting Sara Duterte at the impeachment trial. The House earlier formed an 11-member prosecution team that includes Luistro.

Several social media posts misleadingly claimed that House members were pressured to sign the impeachment complaint against the Vice President. 

Others mocked the lawmakers. Bohol Rep. Edgar Chatto was falsely depicted as having signed the impeachment complaint by mistake, believing it was an attendance sheet required for signatories if they wanted to receive snacks. A fraudulent quote card alleged that Cagayan de Oro Rep. Lordan Suan signed the complaint in exchange for “ayuda” or funds.

Anti-Sara messages

Unlike her father, a third of the posts about Sara Duterte’s impeachment were unfavorable. These included false claims that police generals had filed a fifth impeachment complaint against her. A manipulated video depicted overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong surrounding the Vice President and chanting for her impeachment. 

A TikTok video, meanwhile, featured an edited photo of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a PDP-Laban senatorial candidate, falsely claiming that he supports Sara Duterte’s impeachment.

Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police chief who led Duterte’s war on drugs, said on March 19 that he is considering going into hiding if the ICC orders his arrest.

The ICC has identified nine of Duterte’s co-perpetrators in the arrest warrant, but has redacted their names.

Yvonne T. Chua is an associate professor of journalism at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the project coordinator of Tsek.ph.

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With her body painted to depict the Earth’s oceans and continents, popular actress and singer Nadine Lustre posed to push a New Vegan appeal for Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) at Parallax Studio in Pasig City on March 17. 

Members of the media were invited for a sneak peek at the new ad by Peta, which is aimed at inviting people to help save Mother Earth by going vegan.

“Animal agriculture is one of the main causes of climate change” and is a major contributor to pollution, deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, Peta points out.

To the observation that the pictorial is too provocative, Peta says that the sensitive parts of the actress’ body are appropriately covered.

Read more: There’s hope for stray animals in surge in pet ownership

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The acquisition of the property ended years of on-again, off-again negotiations between PLDT and Filinvest Alabang Inc. (FAI) of the Gotianun family.

Currently, the publicly listed telco is headquartered at the 43-year-old Ramon Cojuangco Building in Makati City, the country’s financial district. 

PLDT’s newly acquired land is located in the largely forested section of Southgate District, which is just across from Far Eastern University (FEU) Alabang, Bloc 10 Lifestyle Community Center, and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. 

Two weeks ago, signages that read “private property” and “no entry” were put up at the site, which has a hilly outcrop, tall trees and thick foliage.

As a result, people are now barred from using the mountain bike trail on the property at the Corporate Woods Loop, reducing the nine-kilometer MTB trail that Filinvest City has touted as among the attractions of the central business district in the southernmost city of Metro Manila. 

Asked on March 11 who had put up the signages, a guard manning the gate of an access road to Filinvest City near the site said: “PLDT.”

The acquisition of the land is a culmination of PLDT’s decadelong quest to find a suitable location for its new headquarters. As early as 2014, the country’s largest and most diversified telco was reported to be considering Alabang and Sta. Rosa, Laguna, for the purpose. 

Similar to Google HQ

PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan said at the time that the company was looking at a 5- to 10-hectare land in Filinvest City, as it was no longer interested in the purchase of Alphaland Corp.’s office building in Makati.

He was quoted as saying that the new headquarters would be similar to those built by Google and Facebook in the United States. “The traditional model is you functionalize [offices], you assign different areas for finance, marketing, sales, admin departments. That’s why you build buildings and assign floors [for each department], but the interaction is different,’’ he said.

Pangilinan said Apple’s headquarters building in Cupertino, California, was shaped like a big circular pie to force its employees “to dialogue with each other and work with each other—pretty much open and free.” 

In 2016, the PLDT chair said the company would spend about P10 billion over the next three years to transfer its Makati headquarters to Filinvest City. The plan did not come to fruition.

But the land deal with FAI is a step closer to PLDT’s achieving its goal of building a campus-style headquarters.

Biggest parcel of land

Before the transaction, the property in Southgate District was the biggest parcel of land still available in Filinvest City.

The property is bounded by South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) and Skyway to the east, Filinvest Avenue to the north, Corporate Avenue to the west, and a private subdivision to the south.

It is only 235 meters to Asian Hospital and Medical Center as the crow flies. The medical facility is owned by Metro Pacific, a significant shareholder of PLDT.

PLDT earned a net income of P32.36 billion in 2024, up 21% from P26.68 billion in 2023. As of Dec. 31, 2024, it had 14, 904 employees, down by about 4,000 from 2020.

Besides its open spaces and greenery, accessibility is one of the advantages of Filinvest City. 

It can be reached via SLEx and Metro Skyway (both of which have entry and exit points at the central business district), Alabang-Zapote Road, the old national highway, and Daang Hari Road.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport is just 10 km away. 

A transport hub for buses and UV Express, which can ferry commuters to towns and cities in the neighboring provinces of Laguna and Cavite and beyond, is found in Filinvest City, a former stock farm of the Department of Agriculture and the site of the Department of Health’s Serum and Vaccine Laboratory. 

‘Biggest joint-venture project’

Three decades ago, the government offered 244 hectares of mostly grazing land for joint development with the private sector to raise funds. 

Filinvest Corp. of Chinese Filipino businessman Andrew Gotianun was chosen in 1991 by the Public Estates Authority to be its partner in what was then called “the biggest joint-venture project of the government and the private sector.” 

Filinvest bested Ayala Land Inc. and Robinson’s Land of the Gokongweis for the right to develop the prime property adjacent to Ayala Alabang Village. 

By 2012, the Gotianuns had sunk nearly P20 billion in Filinvest City. 

Today it boasts IT and BPO companies, hotels, serviced apartments, malls, supermarkets, hospitals, office and condominium buildings, a country club, a high-end residential area, a driving range, police and fire stations, transport hubs, a university and, recently, a central park. E-jeeps ply the central business district. 

Three hospitals—Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Ospital ng Muntinlupa and RITM—and three hotels operate in Filinvest City. An upscale serviced apartment (Somerset Alabang Manila) has expanded the choices of tourists for accommodations there. 

FEU Alabang opened its campus to students in August 2018.

Before the pandemic, the LEED-certified Filinvest City was hosting more than 40,000 people daily. 

PLDT’s new headquarters will add several thousand people to those already working in the central business district.

The post PLDT well on the way to building its campus-style HQ in Filinvest City appeared first on CoverStory.

The space resembled a typical “tambayan.” Equipped with a wall fan, and a water and a charging station, it was enough for the weary riders to rest and recharge before the “merienda” and dinner orders trickled in.

A former security guard, a factory worker, and a barangay employee were all brought there together by an app. Every day, they crisscrossed the bustling city, waited at their designated spots in restaurants and cafes, and brought food to customers right at their doorstep.

Rico (not his real name) joined GrabFood in 2019. The platform gave him a way out of his rigid and gruelling job as a bank security guard. (GrabFood is one of the more popular food delivery services in the Philippines and among those offered by the superapp Grab.)

Melinda (also not her real name) joined the platform, which gave her the flexibility she needed as a mother of two aside from its promise of better pay.

Another rider, Lara, was doing OK with her job in a barangay, but she got enticed when Grab came in. The idea of not having a boss was undeniably appealing to her.

Having no boss, the freedom to choose working hours, and the promise of a higher income have drawn Rico, Melinda, Lara and many more Filipinos to the growing gig economy.

The term “gig” used to refer to a band’s performance typically scheduled after work hours or on a weekend. Now it has expanded to a wide variety of tasks, often done through digital platforms 24/7.

Gig work is driven by a confluence of several factors. Customers—those who can afford—increasingly want convenience and services on-demand. Workers are seeking alternatives from the traditional 9-to-5 job. Companies aim to cut costs.

Digital platforms have bridged all these needs. They capitalize on this trend by connecting merchants like restaurants and cafes to customers. In between are the so-called gig workers.

In the gig economy, workers carry out task-oriented and time-bound delivery services without signing long-term contracts. This allows them to choose when and where to work, making it an ideal side hustle for those with regular jobs.

From October 2023 to June 2024, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) interviewed dozens of workers for this report. The benefits are indeed undeniable for riders and drivers who treat this kind of work as a sideline to earn extra income in their spare time. But for many Filipinos, gig work is not simply a “raket”—it has become their main source of income.

This is a big deal especially when unemployment and underemployment persist. But because tech-driven services have far outpaced existing rules and regulations, workers are often disadvantaged.

Food-delivery and ride-hailing workers in the Philippines, whose daily routine is dictated by an algorithm, struggle with uncertain pay, indebtedness, and the physical toll of chasing incentives.

The risks of gamification

Lara, the former barangay worker, earned more than P1,500 the day before she was interviewed by PCIJ. For the 22 deliveries she made that day, she earned P1,372, plus P200 in incentives for making a certain number of trips, and a P20 tip, for a total of P1,592.

The minimum daily wage in Metro Manila was P610 at the time. At first, it would seem that Lara earns a lot, but after all expenses—gas, food, maintenance, etc.—her take-home pay could be lower.

In cases where they do earn more than the minimum wage, the riders complain about the gruelling 12-15 hours they had to hurdle.

For customers, it might seem as simple as thinking about what we want for lunch, opening the app, searching for a restaurant, choosing from the menu, and in a few minutes, a rider will be assigned to get your food for you. But there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than we realize.

At the heart of these apps are algorithms that suggest merchants to customers, assign riders and drivers to passengers, and compute fares and incentives. This innovation makes things efficient and convenient for everybody. But it’s also intended to make money.

Our research shows that platforms like GrabCar, GrabFood, MoveIT, Joyride, and Angkas implement various incentive schemes designed to encourage workers to complete more orders and bookings every day. These incentives are offered on top of their standard pay, functioning as “bonuses” awarded to workers who meet specific delivery or ride targets—much like a game.

And because companies can restructure or reduce fares or for example, more recently, deduct the senior citizen and person with disability discounts from the workers’ pay, many workers really go for the app’s incentive program.

The implications are potentially serious. It could pose health risks and occupational danger to the workers and by extension, customers.

These incentive programs may also discourage workers from “multi-homing” or the practice of working on different platforms, which further limits their flexibility and earning potential.

Out-of-town drivers

Arnold (not his real name) spent two decades as an overseas Filipino worker. Now, he drives a GrabCar. The car is owned by his sibling to whom he remits a P1,000 “boundary” (a quota fee) daily.

Arnold is from Batangas, a province south of Manila. To save on costs and complete as many trips as he can, he sleeps in his car and goes home to the province only during Wednesdays, his coding day. There are others like him who by now already know most of Metro Manila by heart and the places where they can park their car and not get towed, take a bath, and rest.

Arnold says he is looking for a place to rent. The problem however is finding parking space too.

“Kasi mahirap naman tutulog ka nang sarap na sarap ‘yung tulog mo. Hindi na sasakyan naman eh, iiwan mo lang kung saan, ah, hindi safe. Para hindi ka rin makatulog ng, ano, hindi kagaya dito, kahit na, dito na, tulog sa kalsada,” he said.

Because he practically lives in his car, he gets to drive whenever he can. Admittedly, sleep is far from comfortable.

Arnold is able to reach his target income, including the P1,000 boundary a day. Not all drivers own their vehicle. Many drive other people’s cars and remit a boundary at the end of the day. Another setup is called “boundary-hulog” where a driver pays both boundary and “hulog” for the car so they get to own it after a few years.

Silver, gold, platinum

With GrabCar, drivers can reach higher tiers—silver, gold, or platinum—based on the number of rides they complete. The higher the tier, the lower the “kaltas” or the commission Grab deducts from their earnings, with the standard rate being 21%.

A driver needs to make 450 rides a month to reach platinum, the highest tier; 400 for gold, and 250 for silver.

Food delivery has a similar incentive scheme. In rider parlance, they call it “butas.” On their phone screens, there are round icons that can be unlocked by earning gems. One ride earns 10 gems. The more rides they take, the more gems, the higher the incentive.

In 2019, the riders interviewed said they could easily earn P800 in incentives a day. But Grab has changed this scheme several times. The same number of rides would earn them a lower amount now.

Riders also try to reach a higher tier to earn other rewards such as insurance, which at the time of the interview, was provided to those who have gold and platinum status. Similar to GrabCar, workers first enter as members, and can then move up to the silver, gold, and platinum tier. To reach platinum, a rider must make 480 rides in one month.

“Mangyayari hindi ka na matutulog kasi isang buwan, 480 rides,” Rico said.

“Ako po sa personal, ilang beses ko po naranasan na tumatakbo po ako, minsan hindi, nakaidlip, nasa gutter na po ako,” Carlos said.

“Saka minsan, minsan nga, pag nagbibiyahe ko, naka-pikit lang ako yun,” Lara said.

“Pinipilit na bumiyahe para mahabol yung… target na incentives. Yung gems,” Rico said.

Now, the riders said this number is hard to reach especially if they serve an area outside the most busy cities like Makati, for instance.

Grab: ‘Safety first’; Joyride, Angkas: mum on issue

PCIJ reached out to Grab about the incentive program. We asked how the company ensures that the app’s algorithm does not cause harm or encourage behavior that might pose risks to its workers.

Grab said it has always prioritized passenger safety.

“… we have implemented several measures to safeguard our drivers and passengers. Our platform includes features that monitor driver activity and prompt breaks if prolonged driving hours are detected. Safety features are part of our commitment to preventing fatigue-related incidents,” Grab said in writing.

Grab also said that it “continuously assesses and evaluates the safety records of our drivers to ensure that only drivers with excellent driver safety records are allowed to service commuters.”

PCIJ also asked the company if it has tested these kinds of incentive programs and their potential impact on workers before implementing them. For instance, does the company track the number of hours workers spend on the road?

According to the response: “Our incentive programs are designed with the well-being of our driver-partners in mind. We regularly review and refine these programs to ensure they promote safe and sustainable driving practices. While specific operational details are confidential, we assure you that our policies are aligned with the industry’s best practices and regulatory requirements.”

Angkas had initially entertained our request for an interview but did not grant one eventually.

Joyride has not responded to a similar request as of press time.

Fairwork Philippines findings

A 2023 study published by Fairwork Philippines, a project led by the De La Salle University with the Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines Diliman, and partners from the University of Oxford, reflects PCIJ’s findings.

The report evaluated Angkas, Borzo, GrabCar, Grab Food and Grab Express, FoodPanda, Joyride, Joyride Car, Lalamove, Maxim, and TokTok, and how these platforms meet the five principles of “fair work.”

The five principles of “fair work,” composed of fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management and fair representation, were developed through an extensive literature review of published research on job quality and meetings at UNCTAD and the International Labor Organization and in-country meetings with local stakeholders.

The table below shows what each principle corresponds to. A platform is awarded a first point if evidence suggests that it does meet the condition. The second point under each principle can only be awarded if the first point for that principle has been awarded. If there is no verifiable evidence available that meets a given threshold, the platform is not awarded that point. A platform can score a maximum of 10 points.

Only GrabCar, Grab Express, GrabFood, Lalamove, and Angkas managed to earn points but even these are too few for the workers in these companies to be considered as receiving fair work.

While these platforms offer workers the opportunity to secure their families’ needs in the context of poor employment alternatives in the country, they face “multiple occupational health and safety risks” daily on the road, along with shortcomings in terms of basic safety protections from accidents, illnesses and death, the report found.

Similar to our research, Fairwork Philippines found that “(g)ig workers tend to stretch their working hours to secure more gigs to earn what they need to remain afloat amid fluctuant rates, opaque pay structures, rigid ratings, and increasing competition.”

In addition, the report emphasized that workers are compelled to do this not only as a “free” choice, but also due to unfair or predatory pay and incentive structures. “The lack of measures to protect workers’ safety heightens their vulnerability, and the absence of safety nets implies that any sudden inability to work redounds to livelihood insecurity,” the report said.

Inherent ‘asymmetries’

According to a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) research, the problems encountered by the riders and drivers are caused by “asymmetries” inherent in many apps or platforms.

These asymmetries give rise to “structural inequalities,” where companies—like Grab, Angkas, Joyride, and FoodPanda—benefit the most. Followed by merchants—like our go-to restaurants and cafes—and then, us, the customers.

At the bottom would be workers, who also grapple with having the least information and understanding about how things work on the platform such as how fares are calculated, why they are getting pick-ups that are too far, how to contest low ratings, resolve disputes, address account suspension and termination.

Read more: Displacement, commute woes plague communities near delayed MRT-7 project

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