Palace ‘not surprised’ over Roque’s role in ‘polvoron’ video

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, Philippine News Agency

Castro recalled that Roque even ordered his allies to spread the fake video to make it appear more credible that Marcos was the one in the video. (PNA file photo by Darryl John Esguerra)

MANILA – It no longer came as a surprise that former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque is behind the spread of the fake “polvoron” video showing a man resembling President Ferdinand R. Marcos sniffing illegal drugs, Malacañang said Thursday.

This, after vlogger Vicente Bencalo “Pebbles” Cunanan accused Roque of being the brains behind the altered video.

“Hindi na ito bago at buti na lamang may isang tao na dati nilang kaalyado na sinabi na si Atty. Harry Roque ang nagpakalat. (This is nothing new and fortunately, someone who was once their ally said that Atty. Harry Roque was the one who spread it),” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing.

“So, hindi na po bago ito sa pananaw ng taumbayan kung sino ba talaga ang naging utak o ang nagpakalat ng fake ‘polvoron video’ na ito (So, this is nothing new in the public’s view as to who really was the mastermind or the one who spread this fake polvoron video),” she added.

Castro recalled that Roque even ordered his allies to spread the fake video to make it appear more credible that Marcos was the one in the video.

She said Marcos is a victim of fake news since the video was already proven manipulated.

Asked if the Palace would take legal action following Cunanan’s revelation, Castro said Marcos would let law enforcement agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) take appropriate actions.

“Nakausap po natin ang Pangulo at sinabi po niya na hayaan na lang po natin ang ating mga law enforcement agencies – ang NBI, ang DOJ na magsagawa ng pag-iimbestiga patungkol dito (We spoke to the President and he said that we should just let our law enforcement agencies – the NBI, the DOJ – conduct an investigation into this),” Castro said.

“At kung mayroon dapat na managot, kung napakita talaga ang liability ng kahit sino diyan na involve ay dapat lamang po siguro masampahan ng kaso kung ito po ay makikita naman po ng DOJ at ng NBI (And if there is anyone who should be held accountable, if anyone involved is really liable, then maybe charges should be filed, if the DOJ and the NBI find a merit).”

It could be recalled that the so-called “polvoron video” circulated in July 2024, supposedly showing a man who loooked like Marcos “sniffing” illegal drugs a day before the President’s third State of the Nation Address.

Local fact-checker Vera Files, in its Sept. 16, 2024 report, revealed that it sought the help of Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU), which is part of the India-based Misinformation Combat Alliance, to assess the video.

Vera File sent two copies of the “polvoron video,” one uploaded by a publisher on July 22 and a better-quality copy uploaded on the Facebook page of vlogger Maharlika on Aug. 25.

Results of the DAU’s analysis found that the video, based on Maharlika’s video, indicated “possible tampering with the face of the man in the video.”

The DAU also found the video to be “suspicious and bearing signs of a type of manipulation called face swap.”

Using another tool called HIVE, the DAU also “found multiple points of manipulation in the video’s run-time and where the ‘no-deepfake’ and the deepfake manipulation overlapped,” according to the VERA report.