A SOCIAL media influencer has accused former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque of orchestrating the release of a controversial video allegedly showing President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. using illegal drugs, claiming it was part of a calculated effort to discredit the administration.
In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Tri-Comm hearing Tuesday, influencer Vicente Bencalo “Pebbles” Cunanan said the video in question – widely referred to as the “polvoron video” – was part of an orchestrated effort to damage Marcos’ credibility and incite public backlash against his administration.
“Ako ay naniniwalang si Atty. Roque ang orihinal na pinagmulan ng polvoron video at na siya ang nagpakalat nito sa publiko upang sirain ang kredibilidad ng Pangulo,” the affidavit of Cunanan read.
“Ang labis ko ding natandaan noong gabing iyon ay nang sabihin ni Atty. Roque na ‘magaling ako magpabagsak ng gobyerno,’” Cunanan stated.
“Base sa pagkaintindi ko, at dahil iyon ang isa sa mga pinag-usapan ng gabing iyon, ang pagpapakalat ng video na kung saan gumagamit diumano ng cocaine si PBBM ay parte ng sinasabi ni Atty. Roque na pagpapabagsak ng gobyerno,” he said.
The Tri-Comm, composed of the House Committees on Public Order and Safety, Information and on Communications Technology, and Public Information, resumed its hearing Tuesday on fake news and misinformation in social media.
According to Cunanan, the statement was made during a private dinner on July 7, 2024, in Hong Kong, held shortly after a pro-Duterte event called the Maisug Rally. Present at the gathering were Roque, former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez and influencers Atty. Glen Chong, Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles, Dr. Lorraine Badoy, Sass Rogando Sassot, Joie de Vivre and Tio Moreno.
Cunanan said that during the dinner, Roque revealed he had received a screenshot from a relative of a politician showing a man who appeared to be President Marcos allegedly using cocaine.
“Noong gabing ito, sinabi ni Atty. Roque na siya ay nakatanggap mula sa kamag-anak ng isang politiko ng isang screenshot ng video kung saan makikita si PBBM na gumagamit ng cocaine,” the affidavit read.
Although Roque did not show the image that night, Cunanan said the group discussed how to leak the video to the public without exposing themselves to liability.
“Nagkaroon ng mga diskusyon tungkol sa pagpapakalat ng video ito sa publiko,” he said. “Ayon sa aking rekoleksyon, mayroon pa ngang naging usapan na isang foreign influencer o vlogger ang dapat mag-post o panggalingan ng video para magmukhang mas kapani-paniwala at upang maiwasan ang anumang posibleng pananagutan mula sa gobyerno ng ating bansa,” it read.
Cunanan also described a symbolic act that occurred during the same evening.
“Noong nagkaroon ng isang photo session noong parehong gabing iyon, kami ay gumawa ng kapansin-pansing hand gesture: isang baligtad na ‘V’ sign,” he said. “Kung matatandaan, naging simbolo ni PBBM ang letrang ‘V’ noong siya ay nangangampanya bilang Presidente, kung kaya naman alam ko na ang hand gesture na ito ay direktang tumutukoy kay PBBM,” the affidavit read.
The video was later made public for the first time by Roque himself, Cunanan said, during another Maisug Rally held in Vancouver, Canada on July 20 – just one day before Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address.
“Sa aking pagkakaalam, isa sa mga dumalo sa rally na iyon sa Vancouver ay ang DDS vlogger na si Maharlika na tila alam na ang laman ng video na ipinakita ni Atty. Roque bago pa man ito ilahad sa publiko,” Cunanan added.
“Nagpadala pa sa akin ng mensahe si Maharlika kung saan hinihikayat niya akong ‘sakyan’ ang lalabas na video na umano’y nagpapakita kay Pangulong Marcos na gumagamit ng cocaine.”
Cunanan said this validated his belief that the release of the video was carefully timed and coordinated to inflict political damage ahead of the president’s address to Congress.
On July 22 – the day of the SONA itself – Cunanan said he received a message from Maharlika containing two versions of the video: a raw version and an enhanced version that had allegedly been manipulated to clearly show the president in the scene.
“Mayroon pa rin akong kopya ng raw and enhanced video na ito,” she said. “Sa aking pagkaalam, ang larawan na hawak ni Atty. Roque sa rally sa Hong Kong ay mula sa raw version ng video at hindi pa na-a-augment o na-edit noong panahong iyon.”
“Sa enhanced version na ipinadala sa akin, sa aking pagkaintindi ay in-edit at in-augment ang video upang magmukhang si Pangulong BBM mismo ang nasa eksena. Dahil dito, lalong tumibay ang aking paniniwala na ang video ay sinadyang ipakalat ni Atty. Roque at ng ilang DDS personalities upang magdulot ng batikos at kontrobersiya laban kay PBBM bago ang kanyang SONA,” Cunanan said.
Cunanan declared that Roque was not only the first person to speak of the video but also the one who caused it to be disseminated.
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