FACT CHECK: Video of VP Sara arguing with Escudero over impeachment is AI-generated

The supposed confrontation never happened, contrary to the claim; multiple AI detection tools flagged the video as likely containing AI-generated elements Claim: Vice President Sara Duterte confronted Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero for allegedly favoring the prosecution in her impeachment trial. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook reel posted by the page ”Kapampatut” on July 8 purports to show Duterte in a heated exchange with Escudero, who is serving as the presiding officer in Duterte’s impeachment trial at the Senate. The clip depicts a man resembling Escudero seemingly confronting Duterte over her absence from the impeachment proceedings. In the video, he appears to tell the Vice President, “Bakit hindi ka pa dumalo sa impeachment para depensahan ang sarili mo?” (Why don’t you attend the impeachment trial to defend yourself?) Duterte then replies, “Lagot ka sa akin kapag nalampasan ko ito at nanalo sa susunod na eleksyon.” (You’ll be sorry once I get past this and win the next election.) As of writing, the post has garnered over two million views, 27,000 reactions, and more than 3,000 shares. The facts: The confrontation between Duterte and Escudero did not occur. No official Senate recording, livestream, press release, or credible news outlet has reported or documented such an exchange, as the video is AI-generated. AI detection tool DetectVideo AI assessed the clip as having a 64% likelihood of AI generation or manipulation. A separate analysis using Hive Detect likewise flagged the clip’s audio, finding it to be 98.5% likely to contain AI-generated speech and 99.6% likely to contain AI-generated music. Frame-level analysis also identified portions of the clip with an 86.1% likelihood of AI-generated speech. The Facebook post also contains no label or disclaimer indicating that the clip was created or altered using AI. On July 7, Duterte went to the Senate only to meet with her legal team and did not attend the impeachment proceedings. Escudero also said she could not be compelled to personally appear before the impeachment court. VP’s impeachment: Duterte’s impeachment trial formally opened on July 6, with Escudero elected as presiding officer of the Senate impeachment court. (LIVE UPDATES: Impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte) Escudero had also presided over the Senate proceedings involving Duterte’s first impeachment complaint in 2025 while he was still the Senate president, which was later archived after the Supreme Court declared the 2025 articles of impeachment unconstitutional. Since the current trial began, Duterte has not personally attended the hearings, opting instead to be represented by her legal team. As presiding officer, Escudero has issued several key procedural rulings, including affirming that 16 votes are required to convict the Vice President and approving prosecutors’ requests to subpoena Duterte’s financial and tax records after finding they met the court’s legal requirements. Duterte is facing 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