NBI solidifying evidence vs. ‘deepfake’ PBBM video creators

By Benjamin Pulta, Philippine News Agency

The PNP and the NBI disclosed that their spectral imaging analysis showed the video had been processed to depict Marcos snorting a white powdery substance from a small cup. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is working to create an airtight case against those responsible for making and spreading the video first shared during a political gathering in Los Angeles, California, agency Director Jaime Santiago said Tuesday.

Santiago they have dentified suspects but are still gathering enough evidence.

“So tinitibayan namin ang lahat ng aming ebidensya (we are solidifying our evidence). The PNP (Philippine National Police) and NBI is working together towards this solution to this problem,” Santiago said in a press briefing.

The PNP and the NBI disclosed that their spectral imaging analysis showed the video had been processed to depict Marcos snorting a white powdery substance from a small cup.

NBI digital forensics experts said the man in an altered video depicting President Marcos that circulated online is conclusively a different person.

Lawyer Jeremy Lotoc, head of the NBI Cybercrime Division, detailed the process of examining and authenticating the video.

“We captured a photo from the image taken from Facebook, and then from there, we tried to remove the background images and enhance the photo. Then we transformed the pixelated subject photo into a high-definition image,” he said.

The NBI said a comparison of the facial angles of Marcos and the individual in the video showed that one is unique to the President on one side, and the other is unique to the man on the video from a different side.

Justice Undersecretary Hermogenes Andres said the processing of the fake video showed that “the intention is really to make a misrepresentation.”

“This impostor trying to misrepresent himself as an image of the President doing unsavory acts, definitely, he was not the President,” Andres said.

“Those who spread the fake video may be held equally liable for cybercrime because this is a malicious imputation of a crime of vice that is being done through the use of the internet,” he said. (with a report from Lloyd Cristopher Caliwan/ PNA)