By Brian Campued
A social media influencer accused former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque of orchestrating the spread of a suspicious clip allegedly showing President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. using illegal drugs—known as the “polvoron video”—that was circulated before his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year.
The House of Representatives Tri-Committee—composed of the Committees on Public Order and Safety, on Information and on Communications Technology, and on Public Information—resumed its hearing Tuesday on the role of social media in the coordinated spread of fake news.
In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Tri-Comm, Vicente “Pebbles” Cunanan said that Roque shared in a private dinner with other personalities supporting former President Rodrigo Duterte in Hong Kong on July 7, 2024 that he had received from a relative of a politician a screenshot of a video purportedly showing Marcos taking cocaine.
Cunanan claimed that while Roque did not show the said picture during the dinner, the group had discussed how to circulate the said clip to the public.
“Ayon sa aking rekoleksiyon, mayroon pa ngang naging usapan na isang foreign influencer o vlogger ang dapat mag post o panggalingan ng video para magmukhang mas kapani-paniwala at upang maiwasan ang anumang posibleng pananagutan mula sa gobyerno ng ating bansa,” Cunanan stated.
The vlogger also admitted that the video was “augmented” and “edited” to make it appear that Marcos was involved in the illegal act—a move that Cunanan claims is part of a deliberate campaign to damage the President’s credibility and destabilize the administration.
“Ako ay naniniwalang si Atty. Roque ang orihinal na pinagmulan ng polvoron video at na siya ang nagpakalat nito sa publiko upang sirain ang kredibilidad ng Pangulo,” Cunanan’s affidavit read.
Both the Philippine National Police (PNP) – Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have already conducted a forensic analysis of the said deep fake video last year with results showing discrepancies in the man’s facial features and that of the Chief Executive. (with report from Mela Lesmoras)
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