Filipino journalists did not report on an unnamed “cure” for prostatitis “endorsed” by popular doctor Willie Ong, contrary to false Facebook posts sharing doctored videos of the broadcasts. Three different Philippine news programmes in early March 2024 were digitally manipulated to tout a medicine to purportedly cure the condition. Ong denied endorsing the product.
One video appearing to show Filipino journalist Arnold Clavio presenting a news report about cardiologist Dr Willie Ong promoting a “cure for prostatitis” was shared on Facebook on March 15, 2024, where it has been viewed more than 7,300 times.
Clavio works for Philippines broadcaster GMA Integrated News, but the video features the logo for a different local news outlet, Inquirer.net.
“Willie Ong is said to be chased by the ‘pharmacy mafia’ because of the truth. Can prostatitis be cured forever?” Clavio appeared to say in the Tagalog-language report.
The video then cuts to a clip of Ong, who purportedly said: “Everything we know about curing prostatitis is a lie. I cannot hide the truth”.
He then appears to talk about an unnamed medicine in the one-minute video and ends by promoting an “official website” to order the purported cure for prostatitis, a condition that causes inflammation of the prostate gland usually treated with prescribed antibiotics (archived link).
The post redirects to an Indonesia-based website that appears to promote promote skin supplements.
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Screenshot of false post, taken March 21, 2024
Similar videos featuring Inquirer.net reporter Neil Mercado and GMA Integrated News anchor Mel Tiangco promoting the purported prostatitis cure also garnered over 150,000 views on Facebook here, here and here.
But the videos have been digitally altered — the journalists and Dr Ong all said they had never promoted a prostatitis cure.
Doctored videos
John Ray Arrabe, assistant vice president of GMA Integrated News, told AFP the videos were fake.
“We did not air any reports on prostatitis, nor did we interview Dr Willie Ong and the other people in the video. Arnold and Mel did not read such items in their respective programs,” he said on March 21.
Keyword searches on YouTube found the clip of Clavio corresponds to a report by GMA Integrated News’ late-night programme Saksi on March 8, 2024, uploaded to its official channel the next day (archived link).
The clip used in the false posts starts at the 4:49 mark of the Saksi report, where Clavio reports on former President Rodrigo Duterte, not Dr Willie Ong.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored video (left) and Clavio’s newscast on Saksi (right):
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Screenshot comparison of the altered video (left) and Clavio’s newscast on Saksi (right)
Another version of the “prostatitis cure” video misuses a report by GMA Integrated News anchor Mel Tiangco — lifted from the 37:07 mark of the March 8, 2024 episode of the television show 24 Oras (archived link).
The report was about a closure of a city park and garden — located in villages that used to be part of Makati City but are now under the jurisdiction of Taguig City in capital Metro Manila.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the altered video (left) and Tiangco’s newscast on 24 Oras (right):
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Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and Tiangco’s newscast on 24 Oras (right)
Inquirer.net journalist Neil Mercado, whose report was also altered in another similar false post promoting the supposed cure for prostatitis, called the video a “deepfake” in a March 17, 2024 Facebook post (archived link).
“The audio from this newscast was manipulated, albeit unnoticeable. The movement of my lips matches the words I was supposedly saying in this report,” he said.
The clip corresponds to the 0:46 mark of a March 5, 2024 episode of Mercado’s newscast on “INQToday”, where he reported on Filipino crew members injured during a resupply mission in the disputed South China Sea after the Chinese Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at them (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored video (left) and the INQToday video (right):
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Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the INQToday video (right)
Meanwhile, Dr Willie Ong told AFP on March 19 that the posts were inauthentic. He said he did not have any contact with the Facebook pages using his videos or receive financial benefits from them.
A search on his official YouTube channel found a similar video of Ong uploaded on March 12, 2024, where he gave advice to people taking certain drugs to lower blood cholesterol (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored video (left) and Ong’s original video (right):
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Screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and Ong’s original video (right)
“We do not endorse any product except for Birch Tree Advance for Seniors,” he said on March 19. “We always report them to Facebook to no avail.”
