FACT CHECK: Video of Sandro Marcos denying allegations against his father is fake

Claim: A video shows Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos defending his father, saying that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is neither a thief nor high on drugs.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 69,000 views, 4,001 likes, 1,025 comments, and 589 shares as of writing.

In the video, Marcos is shown saying that his father is neither a thief nor a drug user, and challenged accusers to present evidence for this claim.

The video’s caption reads, “Matapos ng napakaraming akusasyon ng karamihan at statement ni Zaldy Co sa ama ni Sandro Marcos na si Bongbong Marcos na siya daw ang puno’t dulo at pasimuno ng malaking korapsyon sa Pilipinas. Hindi daw ito totoo at pawang walang kasinungalingan lamang.”

(After numerous accusations from many people and statements by Zaldy Co against Sandro Marcos’ father, Bongbong Marcos, claiming that he is the root cause and instigator of massive corruption in the Philippines, this is said to be untrue and entirely false.)

The facts: A screenshot from the video was analyzed using the AI detection tool Sight Engine, which found it to be highly likely AI-generated, with an 83% probability of being produced by generative AI. The analysis also indicated possible face manipulation and identified traces of diffusion-based generation techniques.

Further examination using the AI Video Detector tool revealed additional anomalies in the footage. One frame showed unusually high color values (115.7), elevated texture (40.5%), significant noise (28%), and edges (7.5%). The tool also flagged temporal inconsistencies at 88%, suggesting the video contains digital manipulation and is likely not authentic.

Addressing allegations: The Ilocos representative has recently made statements responding to allegations of drug use and corruption levied at his father, but there is no such video statement posted on his official social media accounts or cited in credible media reports.

The drug use allegations came from the President’s older sister, Senator Imee Marcos, who accused the First Family of using illegal drugs. Imee further insinuated that this alleged drug use played a role in fostering government corruption and influencing poor decision-making. (READ: Marcos on Senator Imee’s drug use claims: That’s not my sister on TV)

Her claims followed allegations made by former congressman Zaldy Co, a key figure in the 2025 flood control scandal, that the President and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez supposedly orchestrated P100 billion in questionable budget insertions and received P25 billion in kickbacks. Malacañang dismissed Co’s allegations as “hearsay,” with the President saying he would not “dignify” the statements.

Sandro has defended his father, calling his aunt’s claims “not only false, but dangerously irresponsible” and describing her behavior as “not the conduct of a true sibling.” 

He has also belied Co’s recent claims tagging him in the budget insertion scandal. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.