PNP: Misleading crime clips used to spread lawless image of Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) exposed what it identified as a disinformation campaign using foreign crime videos disguised as Philippine incidents to create a false impression of widespread lawlessness in the country.

PNP Chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III presented four viral clips during a press conference on Monday, August 18, which he said were shared by pro-Duterte vloggers or Facebook pages. 

The videos

The first video depicted three young people deliberately placing a bench in the road, resulting in a motorcycle accident. It also featured overlay text in Bisaya saying the three may be wishing for death to make the clip appear to be a Philippine incident, Torre said. 

Police investigation, however, revealed the crime actually took place in Indonesia. The license plate of the motorcycle the perpetrators used to escape showed it did not have a Philippine plate number.

Meanwhile, the second video showed a disturbing attack where an individual wielding what appeared to be a long bolo attempted to stab and slash another person. Torre said the incident actually occurred in Vietnam, not in the Philippines.

The third video showed a bullying incident where several students were beating up another student. The clip, which garnered over 17,000 views, attracted comments that Torre believes came from trolls criticizing police as weak and claiming the Department of Education (DepEd) was doing nothing. 

However, the incident actually occurred in Indonesia, as identified through markings visible in the video.

The last video was posted by a vlogger who has already been charged with a criminal case for posting a video that misrepresented a fist fight between two people with a personal conflict as a snatching incident in May 2024. 

Although this incident did happen in the Philippines, Torre said the user made it appear that police took no action, when in fact the perpetrator had already been charged.

Narrative of lawlessness

Torre explained that the videos and their comment sections make it appear as if the local law enforcement is failing to address criminal activity in the country. 

“Pinalalabas nila na para bang napakalawless ng ating mga kalsada na ang snatcher ay aakyat nalang ng bus mangi-isnatch, tatakbo, walang gagawin ang pulis,” he said. 

(They make it appear as if our streets are so lawless that a snatcher can just board a bus, grab something, run off, and the police will do nothing.)

He added that the statements shared by users who saw the videos deliberately promote the narrative that these crimes would never have happened during Rodrigo Duterte's presidency while undermining the Marcos Jr. administration.

“Walang makuha ‘tong mga DDS vlogger. … Tas sasabihin nila ‘yung pulis, pagkatapos kung sana si tatay nila walang ganyan, ‘yan ang mga comment,” Torre said.

(These DDS vloggers get nothing… Then they’ll say things about the police, and if their father wasn’t like that, there wouldn’t be any of this — those are the kinds of comments.)

He was referencing the term “Tatay,” which Duterte supporters used to address the former president, while also alluding to criticisms that the police have not done enough to curb crime.

“Proud pa sila. … Wala na talagang magawa kung ‘di ito nalang ang kanilang ginagawa pasamain ang mukha ng ating bansa na para bang napakagulo natin. Eh di naman totoo,” Torre added.

(They’re even proud of it… They really have nothing else to do but keep tarnishing the image of our country, as if everything here is in chaos. But it isn’t even true.)

Over 1,000 ‘fake news’ posts flagged

The police chief also warned “DDS trolls” to stop spreading disinformation and leveling criticism based on false or misleading evidence, cautioning against “making up stories.”

“Gaya ng pagka fake news ng kanilang idolo,” Torre said. (Just like the fake news of their idol.)

Between January and August 2025, the PNP requested the take down of 1,372 posts deemed as “fake news” across multiple platforms. 

Torre said that Meta actually detected over 91% of these posts initially. So far, 112 have been removed, six criminal cases have been filed, with four under preliminary investigation and two already in trial.