Netizens are circulating a graphic claiming that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has granted former president Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal to return to the Philippines. This is satire.
Since May 5, several social media users have shared the graphic featuring Karim A. A. Khan, the ICC prosecutor in charge of Duterte’s case. It bore the text:
“BREAKING!!! ICC Prosecutor Grants Duterte Motion to Return to Philippines. He needs to be home because he needs to discipline his misbehaving children.”
This graphic is satire. It is also not true that the ICC has granted such a motion from Duterte’s camp. Duterte remains detained in the ICC’s detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, as he awaits the confirmation of charges hearing in September.
Facebook (FB) profile Balat Sibuyas uploaded the graphic on May 5. The original copy bore links to its social media accounts, but these were cropped in some of the circulating copies.
Its social media profiles’ bio read:
“Balitang hindi totoo pero dapat siniseryoso (News that is not true but should be taken seriously). #satire #humor.”
Prosecutor Khan has no authority to grant Duterte’s motions filed before the ICC. Since the case is already in pre-trial stage, the judges, not Khan, can grant or deny motions.
Neither did Khan make a remark about Duterte’s supposedly “misbehaving” children.
The satirical graphic circulated four days after Duterte’s defence team filed a challenge on the court’s exercise of jurisdiction over the case and requested the former president’s “immediate and unconditional release.” The court has yet to decide on the challenge.
Also on May 1, Duterte’s counsel filed an invitation for the excusal of Judges Reine Adélaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera from deciding on the jurisdiction issue over “possibility of perceived bias.” The ICC has dismissed the petition, saying “a judge’s excusal from the exercise of a function may only be sought by the concerned judge directly before the presidency.”
The post by the satirical FB profile Balat Sibuyas garnered only 57 reactions and 36 shares, but several users have since reposted the graphic without a satire label. Posts carrying the graphic from two FB users and pages Gensan channel Tv (created on Feb. 3, 2022 as Pasaway ofw tigang) and Sam UB (created on Feb. 6, 2023 as Sam UB Vlogger Tv) collectively garnered 5,053 reactions, 1,099 comments, 854 shares and 91,000 views. Two TikTok posts also garnered 2,903 reactions, 396 comments, 182 shares and 73,575 views.
