Ferdinand Marcos Jr AI media incident — Sep 2026

On September 23, 2026, a viral video circulating on Facebook falsely depicted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. telling his cousin, former House speaker Martin Romualdez, that his corruption-related arrest was merely a staged performance. The clip, which garnered over 160,000 views, suggested that Romualdez would be acquitted if he remained silent, despite official evidence confirming the arrest was legitimate.

What happened

The video, posted by the Facebook page "Jz Plays" under the title "Cousins Forever Series," featured synthetic audio of a private conversation between the two political figures. In the fabricated exchange, the voice identified as Marcos tells the voice identified as Romualdez that the arrest is a show similar to previous cases, promising an eventual acquittal.

Security analysis using the Hive Moderation detection tool revealed that the clip had an 89.5% likelihood of being AI-generated, with the audio specifically flagged as 98.6% likely to be synthetic. The posts lacked any disclosure regarding the use of AI or digital alteration.

No documentation, Palace recording, or press statement exists to support the conversation shown in the video. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla explicitly stated that President Marcos gave no instructions regarding the handling of Romualdez’s case, even offering to provide phone records as proof. President Marcos himself publicly rejected claims that the arrest was staged, dismissing the narrative as an attack.

Romualdez, who faces a P7.44-billion plunder case involving alleged flood control kickbacks, was arrested on September 7 and later transferred to the New Quezon City Jail on September 14. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied the allegations against him throughout the proceedings.