Deepfake video falsely shows contractor Sarah Discaya admitting to stealing public funds amid ongoing Senate graft probe

tv” that claims contractor Sarah Discaya admitted to stealing public funds for infrastructure projects is a deepfake, Rappler reported. The clip shows Discaya at a Senate hearing saying she and other officials stole public money and accusing politicians of taking kickbacks.

It had accumulated more than 10,000 views, more than 800 reactions, and 435 shares as of June 26.

Deepware’s Seferbekov detection model returned an 87% probability that the video is artificially generated, and Discaya does not blink throughout the footage. Discaya did not make the attributed statements during any Senate blue ribbon committee hearings between September and November 2025.

She and her husband Curlee have previously accused several lawmakers of demanding kickbacks in flood control projects.

Discaya was arrested in December 2025 over a P96-million ghost project in Davao Occidental. On June 4 the Ombudsman filed criminal charges against the couple over an allegedly anomalous flood control project in Calumpit, Bulacan. In May the Sandiganbayan charged Senator Jinggoy Estrada, former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan, and other officials with plunder and graft.

The video resurfaced as the Senate resumed its investigation into the flood control issue under blue ribbon committee chair Senator Erwin Tulfo. Rappler had previously debunked a similar video that circulated during the September 2025 hearings. Investigations into the ghost projects remain ongoing.