MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos are raising hell against corruption in unprecedented ways, where even former adversaries are shown to be aligned to achieve supposedly shared goals.

But what is being spread are AI-generated images and false claims about the former UniTeam of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and supporters of former vice president Leni Robredo, called the Kakampinks, banding together to form “UniPink.”

Facebook posts about UniPink point toward people using the term to attack pro-Marcos and pro-Kakampink sides all at once.

AI-generated portraits

The Nerve observed posts and comments mentioning UniPink and featured AI-generated images of various politicians on September 21, the day of massive protests against the flood control scandal in the country. 

The posts with AI-generated portraits appeared to have been made as early as September 17, as one mention regarding the generation of these portraits leads to the Pixel PortrAIts facebook page, a graphics design page which uses AI to generate its works. 

The post with the AI renditions of politicians has a prompt that lets people make further portraits on Google Gemini.

Some of the images generated, such as those of Robredo, Senator Kiko Pangilinan, and Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, say, “Stop flooding us with corruption.”

Other images were pointed toward pushing the idea that there was a united front against the Dutertes. 

For example, a September 20 post by Darryl Yap, a supporter of pro-Duterte Senator Imee Marcos, had an AI-generated image where Senator Risa Hontiveros is seen wearing a black shirt saying, “Stop saying Bongbong resign. Takot kami kay Sara! (We are afraid of Sara Duterte!)”

In a September 21 Facebook post by another author, an AI-generated image of Senator Bam Aquino has a black shirt saying, “Stop flooding us. Kulay rosas ang baha (The flood is colored pink),” pointing blame at Kakampinks for how flood control projects failed and caused flooding in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, an AI-generated image of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV has his black shirt saying, “Stop flooding us. My God I hate Duterte.”

Hontiveros and Trillanes are fierce critics of the Dutertes.

UniPink's origins

The Nerve scanned public Facebook posts for mentions of UniPink from 2024 to September 23, 2025. Based on the data, UniPink began as a political social media discussion point around February 2024, but mentions for the term grew significantly in volume around May 2025.

The surge in mentions came after the March arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte by the Philippine National Police and Interpol, and his subsequent extradition to The Hague, and right before the scheduled impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, which never pushed through.

What's being said?

Posts mentioning the UniPink terminology tend to skew negatively against pro-Marcos or pro-Kakampink groups, with both groups sometimes said to be traitorous to the other, despite carrying similar messaging.

One of the earliest mentions of UniPink was on February 2, 2024, wherein a poster said, “In all honesty, me thinks BBM is a much better version of Leni. Team UniPink COMING SOON.”

In comments on the post, the commenter said this was an apparent comparison of their similar political philosophies, adding that it was “satire” and “not personal.”

On March 19, a Facebook post in apparent support of Duterte supporter Sass Rogando Sasot also said, “Bagoong Alkansya ng UNIPINK... ang pagsasanib pwersa ng mga Lutang at Bangag…”  (The new UniPink alliance, the joining-forces of the slow-minded and stupid.)

Sasot’s post criticized Leni Robredo for saying Leila de Lima handled her arrest better, likely in comparison to Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest some days earlier.

On May 17 – during the spike in UniPink mentions on Facebook and after the 2025 local elections — Duterte lawyer Harry Roque criticized Robredo and President Marcos for having similar messaging slogans on their social media posts. Roque is a staunch defender of the Dutertes and served as Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential spokesperson on two separate occasions.

In the Facebook post, which garnered over 5,000 comments and over 4,200 shares, Roque wrote, “Akala ko ba Number One sinungaling si Marcos, ayon sabi mo Leni. Ngayon iisa na kayo ng linyada. #UniPink #KakampinkNiMarcos.” (I thought Marcos was the number one liar. Now, you both carry the same lines.)

A July 27 video reposted a July 26 video of Harry Roque explaining how the Supreme Court was not beholden to Rodrigo Duterte. Roque reasoned that if it were under Duterte’s control, they would have found a way to keep Duterte from being sent to the Hague.

The video overlaid text onto Roque’s post, saying “Malungkot at galit na galit ang mga mag tropa mag bestfriend magkakilala magkagrupo na mga NPA. Unipink at Loyalist nanggagalaiti na silang lahat sa Supreme Court!” (The teammates-best-friends-acquaintances-those grouped up with the New People’s Army are sad and angry. The UniPink and Loyalists are raging at the Supreme Court.)

The video’s caption said, “kung pumanig man sila kay VP. sara. Dapat dati pa Pumanig din ang Supreme Court kay Prrd na di mapunta sa Hague. mga 6060ng Loyalist Unipink at Tolongessman. 🐊😂 #SupremeCourt #JunkImpeachmentNow #DigongDuterte #SaraDuterte #SONA2025.” (If they sided with VP Sara, then the Supreme Court should have sided with Rodrigo Duterte to prevent him from going to the Hague.) 

The rest of the sentiment insults UniPink-aligned people as bobo (stupid) and tolongesman (a slang word referring to scammers).

In a September 21 post by a pro-Duterte account, the UniPink hashtag was used in another apparent AI-generated image post to call for the resignation of the president. It also deemed the hypothetical UniPInk group a bunch of “UniThieves.”

In the wake of the September 21 protests, one post we also found shared a Facebook reel calling Kakampinks “the new Marcos loyalists.”

Why does this matter?

The spread of UniPink on social media is meant to create a false reality: that pro-Marcos and pro-Kakampink groups are closely working together to take down a political enemy: the Dutertes.

The irresponsible use of AI should also be recognized here, as these AI-generated images helped foster the idea of people believing things they never expressly stated, and making an imagined reality worse in the process. – Rappler.com

This story was originally published on Rappler on October 6, 2025.

Decoded is a Rappler series that tackles Big Tech not just as a system of abstract infrastructure or policy levers, but as something that directly shapes human experiences. It is produced by The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative and network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.