Old report misrepresented as Philippine ex-leader returning home from ICC detention

Published on April 4, 2025 at 09:59
3 min read
By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines

Weeks after former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was transferred to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC), his supporters shared a clip falsely claiming it shows a news report that he had been released. The video is from 2022, and the 80-year-old ex-leader remains detained in The Hague.

"Rodrigo Roa Duterte arrived today from the Netherlands," reads Tagalog-language text overlaid on an April 2 Facebook reel.

The video shows a news report from broadcaster GMA News where anchor Mel Tiangco is heard saying: "On former president Rodrigo Duterte's return home to Davao city, a special homecoming concert has been prepared for him." (archived link)

"Happy to have you back, Father Digong," the post's caption says, using Duterte's popular nickname among his supporters.

Screenshot of the false post taken on April 3, 2025

The former president was arrested on March 11 and swiftly bundled onto a plane to the ICC in The Hague (archived link).

He faces a charge of crimes against humanity over his anti-narcotics campaign that claimed the lives of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

His lead lawyer Nicholas Kaufman told AFP in an interview that he hoped to stop the case before the tribunal confirms the charges against Duterte by arguing the court cannot exercise its jurisdiction (archived link).

A confirmation of charges hearing, where the prosecutor and defence will first lay out their evidence, is currently scheduled for September 23.

Kaufman did not say anything about his client being released.

The GMA News report was also falsely presented as recent on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, but the Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files had earlier debunked similar posts (archived link).

Keyword searches on Google using visual clues in the video found it was posted on the verified Facebook account of GMA News on June 30, 2022 (archived link).

The report aired on the broadcaster's flagship nightly news programme 24 Oras. The concert shown in the clip was an event in Davao city to honour Duterte as his term as president ended that day (archived link).

Screenshot of the report in the false post (left) and the original on GMA News' Facebook page (right)

Duterte's daughters Vice President Sara Duterte and Veronica Duterte said on April 2 that he "was doing okay" in detention, according to news reports from various local media (archived here, here and here).

AFP has debunked the wave of misinformation on Duterte's arrest, including baseless claims he had been released.

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