FACT CHECK: No clash between De Lima, VP Sara at impeachment trial; video is AI-generated

No official Senate recording, livestream, press release, or credible news report documents the confrontation depicted in the clip Claim: Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima said she would do everything in her power to remove Vice President Sara Duterte from office and have her jailed. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook reel uploaded by the page Kapampatut on July 8 claims to show Duterte and De Lima exchanging personal threats during the Vice President’s impeachment trial at the Senate. The video shows a woman resembling De Lima appearing to tell Duterte, “Gagawin ko ang lahat para maalis ka sa puwesto at makulong tulad ng ama mo.” (I will do everything to remove you from office and have you imprisoned like your father.) Duterte then appears to respond, “Kahit kailan, hindi ka makaganti sa amin (You will never get revenge on us).” As of writing, the post has garnered over 82,000 views, 900 reactions, and more than 80 shares. The facts: The exchange shown in the video is AI-generated. No official Senate recording, livestream, press release, or credible news report documents the confrontation depicted in the clip. The Facebook post also contains no label or disclaimer indicating that the video was made using AI. AI detection tools such as DetectVideo AI assessed the clip as having a 56% likelihood of AI generation or manipulation, assigning a high-confidence rating after detecting irregularities in facial consistency, motion authenticity, temporal consistency, and compression artifacts. A separate analysis using Hive Detect pointed primarily to the audio. The tool found only a 48.4% likelihood that the video itself was AI-generated, and it assessed the clip as 98.8% likely to contain AI-generated speech and 99.9% likely to contain AI-generated music. While De Lima has actively participated in Duterte’s impeachment proceedings as one of the House prosecutors, there is no verified instance in which she publicly threatened Duterte or exchanged personal insults with her during or outside the hearings. The Vice President herself has not attended the impeachment proceedings, only appearing at the Senate briefly on July 7 to meet with her lawyers. De Lima on the prosecution: De Lima is one of the House prosecutors handling the impeachment case against Duterte before the Senate impeachment court. A former senator and longtime Duterte critic, she returned to Congress in 2025 as the representative of the Mamamayang Liberal Party-list after spending nearly seven years in detention on drug charges that she has consistently described as fabricated and politically motivated. Most recently, De Lima welcomed the Senate impeachment court’s decision to subpoena the tax records and Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of Duterte and her husband, Manases “Mans” Carpio. She also urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue to comply with the subpoena, warning that failure to do so could lead to contempt proceedings. De Lima described the ruling as a victory for the impeachment process itself, saying, “Hindi lang ito tagumpay ng prosecution o defense, kundi tagumpay din ng impeachment court.” (This is not just a victory for the prosecution or the defense, but also for the impeachment court.) Duterte’s impeachment trial formally opened on July 6. She faces allegations of misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and alleged threats to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former speaker Martin Romualdez. – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time. How does this make you feel? Loading