FACT CHECK: Screenshot of news report is altered, shows fake drug war ‘victim’

Claim: A victim of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, who was featured in a television report, is still alive, as proven by a video he posted debunking his supposed death.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Several posts bearing the false claim have been circulating on Facebook, with the most popular one garnering 2.7 million views and 18,000 shares. The page spreading the claim is a personal account with 341,000 followers, and its video was shared by former broadcaster Jay Sonza, whose posts Rappler has previously fact-checked.

The viral posts feature a screenshot of a television news report showing Sheerah Escudero holding up an alleged photo of her brother, a victim of the drug war. Overlaid on the screenshot is a video of the same man, who says in Bisaya that he is still alive and has only been working abroad.

Text overlaid on the video accused the families of drug war victims of being “bayaran” (paid hacks) and of supposedly planting evidence to implicate former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently facing charges of crimes against humanity for the drug war killings.

Some variations of the post compared two images of Escudero holding up a photo of her brother, with both images featuring two different men. These posts imply that Escudero was lying about her brother being a victim of the drug war.

“Sino ba ang totoong kapatid ni Sheerah Escudero? Sa 2025, iba ang hawak niyang litrato at sinasabi niya kapatid niya. At ngayon 2026, iba naman ang kapatid niya,” one of the posts’ captions says.

(Who is the real brother of Sheerah Escudero? In 2025, she held up a different picture and said it was her brother. And now in 2026, she has a different brother.)

The facts: The screenshot of the news report in the viral posts is altered. When it first began circulating in March 2025, the photo was debunked by News5, the source of the original news report, and other media organizations like AFP, Al Jazeera, and Reuters.

The original News5 newscast shows the genuine photo of Ephraim Escudero, Sheerah’s brother. The fake posts replaced his picture with a photo of another man.

AFP’s April 2025 fact check also quoted Sheerah’s Facebook post that debunked the viral photo. “Look at that face — it looks nothing like Ephraim,” she wrote.

Escudero siblings: Ephraim Escudero was killed in 2017 at 18 years old. He went missing along with his 52-year-old neighbor, Ronnie Pionilla, in San Pedro, Laguna, and was later found dumped in a village in Angeles City, Pampanga, with bullet wounds in his head and his face wrapped in packaging tape.

His sister Sheerah has since become an outspoken critic of the drug war that killed her brother. She has appealed to the Philippine government for justice for the victims of Duterte’s drug war. 

According to Rappler’s report, Escudero has faced severe harassment and trolling since the former president’s arrest.

Influx of false claims: Claims like these have been going viral in the lead-up to Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearings, which run from February 23 to 27. Rappler has previously debunked these ICC-related claims:

• FACT CHECK: Duterte not back in Davao amid confirmation of charges hearing 
• FACT CHECK: Quote card of Kristina Conti on death penalty is fake
• FACT CHECK: No ICC ruling allowing Duterte to return to PH wearing location tracker
• FACT CHECK: No proof of Duterte in ‘critical’ condition
• FACT CHECK: Viral photo of Duterte reunited with daughter Kitty is manipulated       

– Shay Du/Rappler.com

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