DAVAO CITY — A video posted on Facebook showing Pampanga 3rd District Representative Mica Gonzales allegedly admitting to receiving a suitcase full of cash as kickback from government infrastructure projects, is a deepfake.
The viral video repurposes an unrelated, pre-existing video fed into an AI tool to generate a manipulated version where Rep. Gonzales appears to deliver a statement she never actually made regarding an NBI investigation of the “maleta (suitcase)” issue.
On March 4, 2026, Gonzales was implicated in possible corruption or bribery connected to a kickback scheme after allegedly accepting a suitcase of money. The “maleta” issue began during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on September 25, 2025 when a witness, former security aide Orly Regala Guteza, claimed to have delivered suitcases containing billions of pesos in kickbacks from ghost flood control projects to former House Speaker Martin Rumualdez.
MindaNews fact-checked this because the post attempts to frame Gonzales as admitting to corruption in that video that has been circulating widely in pro-Duterte online spaces.
The video has generated widespread engagement especially among Duterte supporters. One sharer captioned, “CONG.MICA GONZALES UMAMIN NA! Pano ba yan mga babyM suppoters! Ay supporters (CONG.MICA GONZALES ADMITS! What’s up babyM suppoters! Oh, supporters),” while another wrote, “May umamin na,,bigay naman daw eh? (Someone has confessed; they said it was given anyway).” Another said, “Feel ko ha A.I lang ito kasi wala namang crocs na aamin eh (I think this must be A.I. since no croc would ever confess).”
Among the sharers is Isidro Lapeña, a retired police officer who served two major agencies under the Duterte presidency. Lapena shared the same video but from a different Facebook page named TATAK DUTERTE with this text overlay: “Totoo talaga ang mga sinasabi ni Zaldy Co tungkol sa male maletang pera, Congresswoman Mica Gonzales umaming tumanggap ng pera.”
First posted on March 4, 2026, at 8:51 PM by the Facebook page Pedro n Juan, the viral video was captioned, “Matapang na Sinagot ni Congresswoman Mica Gonzales ang Isyu ng ‘Maleta’ Habang Iniimbestigahan ng NBI ang Allegasyon ng Suitcase Deliveries.”
Pedro n Juan frequently shares anti-corruption-themed content with the slogan, “Katotohanan ang magpapalaya sa Bayan.”
Prior to this post, the Facebook page had also posted a series of videos portraying Rep. Gonzales and her father, Aurelio Gonzales Jr. in connection with corruption allegations. Aurelio represented Pampanga’s 3rd district until June 30, 2025.
The March 4 post has garnered 2.3M views, 9.2k shares, 6.3k comments, 14.1k reactions as of March 8, 2026, as of 4:04 PM.
One netizen commented, “So you admit the crime,” while another wrote, “yari na umamin damay damay na to, lumabas sa mismong bibig nya (It’s over she already admitted it, so everyone will be involved now. It came straight from their own mouth).”
Talking about the suitcase, Gonzales is seen in the clip saying, “Binigay naman yun eh, hindi natin hiningi yun hindi lang po tayo yung tumanggap ng maleta, huwag po sana sakin lang ibaling ang atensyon (It was given to me, we didn’t ask for it, I was not the only one who accepted the suitcase, don’t just turn your attention to me).”
Upon searching for the actual post from Gonzales’ official page, MindaNews found another, earlier clip with the same setting and background.
The original video was posted by Mica Gonzales on October 11, 2025 at 8:43 PM, and showed her promoting a medical mission in partnership with the Department of Health. The original post was captioned, “Medical Mission pu ngeni in partnership with DOH! Sulitan taya pu ing oportunidad na makapag pacheck up tamu pu lalu na reng anak tamu (There is a Medical Mission today in partnership with the DOH! Let’s take advantage of this opportunity to get a check-up, especially for our children).”
After a side-by-side comparison of the keyframes, a closer look at the manipulated version reveals multiple visual inconsistencies indicative of AI-generated content.
The viral Facebook video shows unnatural or inorganic movements. At certain points, Gonzales’ teeth appear disproportionately large, her eyes appear misaligned, and her hair remains unnaturally still. The AI-generated version also appears to be a flipped version of the actual video.
The audio also contains irregular pronunciation, such as the prolonged delivery of the word “sasagutin.”
Further, the background of the manipulated video appears to loop.
On March 5, Rep. Gonzales issued an official statement via the House of Representatives Viber group for Media: “I am aware of a manipulated video currently circulating. I want to be clear: this video is a complete fabrication. It is 100% a deep fake.” The statement was followed by a link leading to the original video.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes fact-check leads or suggestions from the public. (Bea Gatmaytan / MindaNews; Rovic Lloyd Buot, Rose Ann Obenza, Melody Tagnipis, Norielle Tonong, Shannen Jeen Vinluan / DOrSU Interns)
