Claim: Dr. Liza Ramoso-Ong, the wife of cardiologist and online health personality Dr. Willie Ong, endorses Clear Sight Eye Drops, a product that claims to cure eye cataracts.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post containing the claim has over 32,000,000 views, 180,000 reactions, and 48,400 comments as of writing.
The facts: The post with the claim used a clip from Dr. Liza Ong’s video posted on December 25, 2022, about eye problems that people aged 40 and above commonly have.
The video spliced two clips from the following timestamp. The first spliced clip was taken from 1:20 to 1:40 timestamp.
Stitched with AI-generated audio: The second spliced clip ran from 2:26 to 2:31 timestamp of the original video. It was stitched to an artificial-intelligence generated audio that used Liza Ong’s voice to say the line, “Kailangan sumubok na kayo nitong Clear Sight Eye Drops na talagang malaki ang tulong pagalingin ang mga katarata sa iyong mata.” (You need to try Clear Sight Eye Drops which greatly helps treat eye cataracts.)
However, Liza Ong didn’t say the line in the original video. Instead, she said: “Kailangan ay magsusuot tayo ng sunglass. Mamaya, i-e-explain natin nang mas matagal. Sunglass, payong, sombrero, kumain ng mga gulay at prutas, at check-up ng mata kada taon.”
(We need to wear sunglass. Later, I will explain at length why. Sunglass, umbrella, hat, eating fruits and vegetables, and annual eye check-up.)
Liza Ong also does not endorse the dubious health product. In a previous correspondence with Rappler, Willie Ong said he and Liza’s only official endorsement is Birch Tree Advance, a nutritional milk formulated for seniors.
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Not FDA registered: The product Clear Sight Eye Drops endorsed in the post is also not on the Philippine Food and Drug Administration’s list of registered products, as seen on its online verification portal.
Similar claims: Rappler has fact-checked multiple products that used both the identities of Willie and Liza Ong for their ads, making it seem that they endorse the products:
- FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong’s hypertension video ad is AI-manipulated
- FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong ad for heart ailment cure is AI-manipulated
- FACT CHECK: Doc Liza Ong doesn’t endorse unregistered anti-itch cream
- FACT CHECK: Ad uses deepfake video of Doc Willie Ong to promote voice and throat supplement
- FACT CHECK: Unregistered anti-itch not endorsed by Doc Liza Ong
– Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com
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