A Catholic priest critical of the drug war has become the target of a coordinated smear campaign on social media, employing AI-generated content and identical messages, according to a joint investigation.
In Manila, Philippines, a joint investigation by PressOne.PH and Philstar.com reveals that dozens of social media accounts on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube deployed identical messages, suspicious comment patterns, and AI-generated content against Fr. Flaviano "Flavie" Villanueva, a Catholic priest known for championing drug war victims.
The attacks intensified after he joined complainants in filing plunder charges against Vice President Sara Duterte in December 2025. Online harassment against him has been documented since late 2024, but became more coordinated in 2025. The strategy is two-pronged: exploiting his admission of past substance use to label him a criminal or active user, and circulating claims that he followed a sexually explicit social media page.
Of 34 posts examined, 25 were flooded with echoing comments, and five used copypasta. One post drew over 4,000 comments in six days, with a spike on January 4, 2026—1,414 comments in a single day—indicating coordinated engagement from suspicious accounts with locked profiles and few friends. There was also AI manipulation, such as a deepfake video from "Bagong Bukas PH".
Villanueva has long criticized former President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war from 2016 to 2022, who has been detained at the International Criminal Court since 2025 on crimes against humanity charges. He received the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award for his ministry to the poor and victims of injustice. Through Project Paghilom, he supported families of drug war victims with exhumations and dignified reburials. He is a lead complainant in the plunder case against VP Duterte over the alleged misuse of more than P600 million in confidential funds.
The Daily Tribune published an opinion piece framing the claims as an "allegation," based on lawyer Edward Chico's statement that Villanueva "avidly followed" the controversial page. Villanueva declined to engage, saying he would not "give oxygen to disinformation" and remains focused on their mission of justice, transparency, and restoring human dignity.
— with reports from Leigh San Diego and Hurt Allauigan