Police say man inhaling white powder in video is not Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — A video allegedly showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos inhaling a white powder has been denounced as "fake" and "malicious", with investigators on Tuesday presenting close-up images of his ear to prove it was not him.

The clip featuring a dark-haired man was part of a video shown at a rally in Los Angeles that was organised by a political group linked to Marcos's predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

The rally was livestreamed on the Facebook page of pro-Duterte broadcaster SMNI in the Philippines early Monday local time, hours before Marcos was due to deliver his annual State of the Nation address to Congress.

"It is obvious from the video that that is not our president. Their video is fake and obviously not real," Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Monday, after the video went viral on social media.

Teodoro said it was part of a "serious plan to destabilise our government".

The video spread rapidly on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok. One Facebook post was viewed at least eight million times.

Duterte's former spokesman Harry Roque shared it on his Facebook page with a caption in Tagalog reading: "You be the judge".

It was viewed 17,000 times.

Police forensic experts held a news conference on Tuesday to prove the man in the video was not the president, presenting photos of Marcos and the unidentified man to compare their facial features.

Enlarged images of their faces and right ears were placed side by side to demonstrate that Marcos's ear was larger in proportion to his face and had a different shape to those of the other man, whose ear curled over at the top.

"Be it AI (artificial intelligence) or imposter or whatever it was, as far as the (police) is concerned that is not the president," Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos said Tuesday.

"That is a different person based on the ear. That's not even considering the jawline and the entire facial structure," Abalos said, describing the video as "malicious".

The Marcos and Duterte families have had a bitter, public falling out as they attempt to shore up their rival support bases and secure key positions ahead of the 2025 mid-term elections.

Duterte and Marcos have accused each other of being drug addicts, although neither man has offered proof of their allegations.