'Di pwede yan!' Gonzales, Suarez tell authorities to go after makers of PBBM deepfake clip
At A Glance
- Ranking congressmen Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. (Pampanga) and David "Jay-jay" Suarez (Quezon) refuse to let the deepfake video of President Marcos slide, saying that the people behind it must be prosecuted.
Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. (left), Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Ranking congressmen Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. (Pampanga) and David "Jay-jay" Suarez (Quezon) refuse to let the deepfake video of President Marcos slide, saying that the people behind it must be prosecuted.
Gonzales is a senior deputy speaker, while Suarez is a deputy speaker in the House of Representatives.
“This matter involves national security and the malicious dissemination of fabricated information,” Gonzales said in a joint statement Sunday, April 28. He was referring to the digitally-altered clip wherein Marcos was made to appear to be giving orders to soldiers to take action against a certain country
He said the concerned agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and its Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, should promptly conduct an inquiry. The person or persons responsible for the deepfake should be prosecuted, he said.
“We should not allow this to happen again. We should not tolerate criminally-minded persons to wreak havoc on our national security and to give our people fake information,” Gonzales said.
Suarez echoed this, and at the same time said that the investigating agencies should give the House a periodic report on the progress of its investigation.
The deputy speaker said the agencies could even tap private sector experts in their probe.
“It should not be difficult for them to identify the origin of the deepfake and those behind it. I suspect this bogus material originated from somewhere in the south of the country,” he reckoned.
He urged the supposed recipients of the President’s directive not to listen to impostors and fabricators.
“I trust that they will heed instructions issued only through official lines of communication and from the chain of command. I believe in the professionalism and patriotism of our soldiers,” Suarez stressed.