FACT CHECK: Video of AFP chief warning about a new US weapon is a deepfake

Claim: In a YouTube video, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. discusses the range and strength of a new US military Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a video posted on a new YouTube channel, created on December 18, 2025, named after Brawner and which uses the military chief’s photo in its profile.

The video, posted on December 21, features Brawner in a camouflage combat uniform explaining the capabilities of the new US military weapon called Dark Eagle, a Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon.

The video has more than 66,000 views, 120 comments, and 1,300 likes as of writing. Its title claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin was surprised to find out about the weapon that could allegedly destroy Moscow in a matter of minutes. No description has been added to support the context of the 18-minute video.

The facts: The video is a deepfake of Brawner, created using Generative AI tools.

A deepfake, according to Oxford Dictionary, refers to media “that has been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness convincingly with that of another, often used maliciously to show someone doing something that he or she did not do.”

Sensity’s deepfake detection tool found that the video is AI-generated with a confidence level of 79.3%. An analysis by Hive Moderation also revealed that the video is likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content, with an aggregate score of 96.2%.

In a December 23 post on its Facebook page, the AFP alerted the public about YouTube channels posting deepfake videos of the AFP chief of staff. The deepfake content misleads viewers into thinking it was Brawner speaking in the videos.

“The AFP warns the public against a fake YouTube channel impersonating AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo S. Brawner Jr. through highly deceptive, AI-generated videos. These contents are unauthorized, digitally manipulated, and intended to mislead,” the AFP said.

The AFP urged the public to rely only on official government channels for credible information.

Signs of deepfake: The video also bears the sparkle icon on its lower right corner, which can typically be seen on content generated using Google Gemini, Google’s AI assistant.

Another telling detail of an AI-generated deepfake can be observed from the inconsistent elements and visual glitches evident in the video. For example, the microphone keeps wobbling, appears distorted, and sometimes even disappears into the mouth of Brawner’s deepfake. Other suspicious details include the “dead eyes” look, gestures and mannerisms that feel overly rehearsed, and actions that follow a looping pattern, or are too unnatural.

Rappler has debunked several posts on social media that use AI tools to generate fake content. – Princess Leah Sagaad/Rappler.com

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