Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial: AI-Generated Photos of Witness Earpiece Surface

The Senate impeachment court on Tuesday declared that social media photos allegedly showing a hostile witness wearing an earpiece were generated by artificial intelligence (AI). "The photos circulating that supposedly show Mr. Ortonio with an earpiece are not true. They were AI-generated," said presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero at the start of Day 20 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. He added, "What he had was… an ear piercing in the front fold helix of his ear. Not an earpiece." Meanwhile, a new witness is slated to be presented by the House prosecution panel on Tuesday, September 1. This witness, retired Colonel Manaros Boransing II from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), is expected to testify on Article I of the impeachment case. This article accuses Duterte of committing impeachable offenses due to the alleged systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds. In October 2024, lawyer Michael Poa had told the House good government and public accountability panel that he requested then-Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary and retired Major General Nolasco Mempin to ask military units for certifications to back up the department's spending of P15 million in confidential funds for informants in 2023. The Senate impeachment court has also issued a revised subpoena for Colonel Magtangol Panopio. His testimony will follow Boransing's. Boransing and Panopio were among the military officials who previously stated that they issued military certifications, but maintained they were not aware that these were used to liquidate the DepEd's confidential funds. On Friday, House prosecution panel adviser and former Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union said that the military certifications issued by Boransing and Panopio to justify DepEd's confidential fund spending carry great weight. They argued that aside from these being public funds, it is not the job of the military to liquidate these confidential fund disbursements of DepEd. The prosecution team also said that Poa, then-undersecretary and spokesperson of the DepEd, has a lot to explain before the Senate impeachment court on how the P112.5 million in confidential funds of the DepEd was used during the tenure of Duterte as Education chief. Source: GMA News Philippines