It was high drama at the Senate on Thursday when actress Angel Aquino took the hot seat to expose how deepfake pornography has personally violated her.
Aquino, looking elegant yet visibly shaken, admitted she only discovered her ordeal when a friend tipped her off.
“I think any one of us, kung makita natin yung mukha natin na nasa isang porn video, I don’t know how you’d feel, but it’s really nakakabastos,” she told the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
Her reaction was visceral.
“When I learned of my deepfake, my reaction was both internal and physical. As in, para kong nasusuka. I felt ill, nauseated, confused, and stunned in the beginning. Then, it was disgust and anger for being violated as a person in a revolting and humiliating way.”
Aquino didn’t stop there.
“I understand that being public property, you know, is one of the trade-offs of this job. Pero sana naman, only up to a certain extent, di ba? Putting ourselves out there doesn’t give people consent to demean us, defame us, harass, or take us apart, or do whatever they want to do with us.”
Also taking part in the inquiry was content creator Queen Hera who stunned the room with an even darker revelation: her own daughter had been targeted.
“May nag-DM sa akin sa Instagram saying na yung anak ko ay nakita sa isang dark web. And nakita ko mismo yung picture niya. Naka-edit yung mukha niya sa isang private part ng isang lalaki.”
She broke hearts with her admission: “As a mother, sobrang heartbreaking noon para sa akin. So, I felt helpless at that time… kahit sobrang inosente ng post mo, hindi ligtas.”
