LEADERS of the House of Representatives urged the government on Sunday to investigate a fake video clip of Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. issuing orders for the military to attack China.

Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio D. Gonzales, Jr. said the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center should get to the bottom of the deepfake video.

Deepfakes are manipulated forms of content made through artificial intelligence (AI) to show any individual saying or doing something he or she never actually did or say.

“This matter involves national security and the malicious dissemination of fabricated information,” Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio D. Gonzales, Jr. said in a statement.

After the Presidential Communications Office already dismissed the deepfake video’s authenticity last week, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Saturday that it had been working with the DICT to unmask those responsible for it. 

“We have identified a possible source behind the deepfake audio, but as to the extent of their involvement, that is still the subject of our investigation,” PNP Spokesperson Jean S. Fajardo told a media briefing.

“It should not be difficult for them to identify the origin of the deepfake and those behind it,” Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. David C. Suarez said in the same statement.

Mr. Suarez said he suspects the deepfake clip originated from “somewhere in the south of the country.”

Authorities should provide a period report of the investigation’s progress, he said. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio