QUEZON CITY, (PIA) — The Marcos Jr. administration on Thursday announced the formation of a National Deepfake Task Force and the rollout of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered detection tool aimed at combating disinformation and potential election fraud with the upcoming May elections.
According to Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) Undersecretary Alex Ramos, this initiative is part of a broader strategy to empower citizens against the escalating threat posed by deepfakes.
“This tool will be distributed to accredited institutions, including election watchdogs like the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), universities, and fact-checking groups,” Ramos explained. “During community gatherings, if someone reports suspicious content, it can be analyzed quickly using this tool.”
The initiative is a collaborative effort led by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) alongside the CICC, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), among others.
Ramos said the newly acquired AI tool, sourced from Singapore-based company Ensign, can verify deepfake content within 30 seconds.
The government has currently purchased 500 licenses for the software at a total cost of P2 million, with plans to expand distribution to more communities.
While the software is not yet available to the general public as officials finalize its security protocols, Ramos emphasized its importance for independent fact-checking rather than government censorship.
“We are not dictating results; this is about empowering the community to verify information independently,” he said.
This decentralized approach aims to halt the spread of misinformation early on. “Before misinformation can gain traction, we can swiftly determine if it’s a deepfake,” Ramos said. (JCO/PIA-NCR)
