‘The scandal is how easily facts were distorted, and how quickly a family’s grief was hijacked for political theater.’
THERE are lines journalism must never cross. This was one of them.
The death of businessman Paolo Tantoco was a tragedy. What followed was a national disgrace.
In March 2025, Tantoco — heir to the Rustan’s retail empire — was found unresponsive at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The LA County Medical Examiner ruled his death accidental, caused by cocaine use, with heart disease as a contributing factor. There was no foul play. No scandal.
And yet, a doctored version of a US police report began circulating on Philippine social media. It falsely claimed that First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had been present and questioned. The fabrication described a drug scene that didn’t exist. None of it appeared in the official report from Beverly Hills police.
Still, others seized the lie — amplifying it, legitimizing it, embedding it in public discourse as though it were fact. They dragged private grief through the mud of politics.
Malacañang condemned the forgery. Records and photos confirmed that the First Lady was attending a Filipino community event that evening, under US and PSG security. She was not even in the same hotel.
Yet the disinformation persisted. A sitting senator even called for a Palace report — muddying waters already made clear.
Let’s make it clearer: this wasn’t sloppy reporting. It was deliberate deception — weaponized, digitally altered, and used to erode public trust. And it is worse when journalists, who should stand for truth, become passive relays for fiction.
Those responsible — from the fabricators to the amplifiers — must be held accountable under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
While public figures are fair game for scrutiny, Paolo Tantoco was a private citizen. He did not seek the spotlight. He did not deserve to have his death used as clickbait.
The law draws a line between protected speech and malicious falsehood. In this case, that line was crossed with impunity.
This is today’s battlefield. Documents are forged. Photos manipulated. AI tools generate fakes that mimic official files. And in the race to ride the algorithm, too many newsrooms abandon their highest calling: to seek truth and report it.
There is no scandal here. Paolo Tantoco’s death was investigated and closed by US authorities. The scandal is how easily facts were distorted, and how quickly a family’s grief was hijacked for political theater.
We echo the Tantoco family’s call: End the speculation. Respect the dead. Stop dressing up lies as press freedom.
In an age of machine-made falsehoods, editorial integrity is the last firewall between truth and deception.
God help us if it crumbles.
