THE Lapu-Lapu City Government drew mixed reactions online after netizens noticed the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in promotional videos for its free dialysis program and new infrastructure projects.
Posted on Mayor Ma. Cynthia “Cindi” Chan’s page, the videos featured AI-generated visuals, including watermarks from Google’s “Veo” model.
While some residents expressed amusement, others criticized the use of AI over authentic footage of the city’s services.
Chan has yet to issue a statement regarding the production of the materials.
The videos that were meant to highlight flagship projects of the local administration, including the ‘Libreng Dialysis sa Lapu-Lapu’ program and the construction of a long-awaited gym in Barangay Canjulao, have accumulated over 370,000 views, 5,600 reactions, 1,600 comments, and 1,400 shares as of Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026.
However, instead of focusing on the initiatives, many netizens zeroed in on the production style of the videos, particularly the use of AI-generated visuals.
The AI videos showed elderly people talking about the positive impact of Chan’s initiatives and projects.
“Why are we using AI just to showcase the services you’ve delivered? Lisod na ba ron mag interview ug tinuod nga tawo? Sa kadaghan sa tawo sa Lapu-Lapu City, mag resort nalang to AI jud? (Is it really that difficult now to interview a real person? With so many people in Lapu-Lapu City, do you really have to resort to AI?),” a netizen asked.
Deepfakes
The uploaded video on the Canjulao project shows the “Veo” watermark which is a Google advanced AI model designed to generate high-quality, story-driven video clips from text prompts or images. Veo is noted for its realistic motion, cinematic visuals, and built-in native audio such as dialogue and sound effects.
The video was captioned “Dili ni AI ha (This is not AI).”
However, Lapu-Lapu lone district Rep. Junard “Ahong” Chan said in the comments section that the caption was written “sarcastically”, after a netizen pointed out that the video appeared to be AI-generated.
Netizens observed the individuals speaking in the video had varied accents in pronouncing names and Cebuano words.
Experts note that AI-generated voice technology struggles with accurate pronunciation which can affect the naturalness and credibility of the output.
SunStar Cebu sought Mayor Chan’s comment on Thursday, Jan. 22, but was informed she was out of town.
The City Government has also not issued an official statement addressing the use of AI in its promotional materials as of this writing. / DPC