TV report featuring Ramon Ang ‘investment program’ fabricated
- FactRakers
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Nobody is earning P175,000 a week from an "investment program" linked to business tycoon Ramon Ang, contrary to claims made in a fabricated 24 Oras report circulating on Facebook.
The deepfake video posted by Public Service Announcement’s Facebook account on April 24 showed GMA news anchor Vicky Morales delivering a report with the spiel:
The Philippines was shaken by incredible news. Thanks to the famous politician and television journalist Ramon Ang and his revolutionary development, the "Investment Program 2025,” thousands of citizens are now steadily earning P175,000 per week. Experts are calling it a financial breakthrough. What is this investment system? How doe it work? Ramon will tell you more.
The video then cuts to footage of Ang supposedly endorsing the scheme and claiming it received support from corporations such as Petron and San Miguel, both companies chaired by the interindustrial business titan. It showed him saying:
The platform consistently brings profits to every participant. Personally, I earn from P500,000 per week and this is just the beginning. We have created a system that works for the benefit of everyone and I invite you to become a part of it.
FactRakers found the video extracted and manipulated clips from One News PH's original 2023 interview with Ang about a basketball sponsorship he shares with First Pacific CEO and sports patron Manuel V. Pangilinan.
Meanwhile, it lifted Morales' footage from the original 24 Oras broadcast on April 15 and superimposed her onto a blue background alongside a photo of Ang to mimic the look of an authentic news segment.
A comparison of the altered clips against Morales’ facial expressions at the 1:20:16 mark of the real broadcast shows she was anchoring a report about a fire in Quezon City.
Ang’s photo, which originally featured the SMC logo, was first indexed by TinEye, a reverse image search engine, in August 2014 and has since appeared in various sites including news organizations like Forbes.
Deepfake-O-Meter, a media forensics tool, found a 96.9% likelihood that the video is a deepfake. Additional AI detection tools Hiya and Hive rated Morales and Ang’s voices in the video with a 99% probability of being AI-generated clones.
In February, Ang condemned another deepfake falsely showing him endorsing investment opportunities. A company headed by billionaire Enrique Razon Jr., a major player in the marine cargo industry, has also warned the public against similar content impersonating the mogul.
As of press time, the fabricated report has amassed over 153,000 views with 2,100 reactions and 352 shares on Facebook. (MAE)
