A Facebook fan page for Veronica “Kitty” Duterte posted a graphic card claiming that House Deputy Minority Leader Leila De Lima supposedly said the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte and her allies could facilitate the release of former president Rodrigo Duterte from detention in The Hague. This is fake.
A quick search on Google showed no news reports or other credible sources confirming that the Mamamayang Liberal representative made the remark. It was actually International Criminal Court assistant to counsel Kristina Conti who said that VP Sara’s resignation “could have an effect“ if the former president’s camp would file a request for his interim release again.
Originally published on Dec. 1 by a fan page of Duterte’s youngest daughter with 3.9 million followers, the now-deleted post carried a graphic with a bold yellow-colored text that read:
“PAGBIBITIW NI VP SARA AT LAHAT NG KAALYADO NIYA SA PWESTO, MAKAKATULONG UMANO PARA MAPALAYA SI FPRRD AYON KAY LEILA DE LIMA.”
(According to Leila De Lima, the resignation of VP Sara and all her allies from their positions would supposedly help in freeing FPRRD.)
A page republished a similar claim on an FB group named PROTECT VICE PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE on Dec. 1, while another Kitty Duterte fan page with 45,000 followers reposted the fake graphic itself on Dec. 2.
While De Lima issued a Nov. 28 statement on her official social media pages welcoming the ICC Appeals Chamber’s decision to reject Duterte’s interim release plea, she did not mention anything about VP Sara and her allies stepping down from their posts.
De Lima said the Duterte camp was at fault for losing the former president’s bid to be released from ICC detention, even cautioning Duterte’s son, Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte, against his recent remarks on drug issues.
“Siguro maghinay-hinay muna ang mga anak at supporters ni Duterte lalo na si Baste, na kamakailan lang ay nagdeklara na maglilista na naman sila ng mga adik para sa panibagong drug war sa Davao. Mga ganitong deklarasyon ang hindi nakakatulong sa kanyang ama,” De Lima said.
The claim in the bogus graphic about VP Sara’s resignation and its supposed benefits to her father’s release appears to have been taken from Conti’s remarks during an interview with news channel One PH published on Nov. 28. She said:
“‘Pag nag-resign si Sara Duterte at lahat ng mga Duterte in power, then maybe sabihin na, oh wala na kaming kapangyarihan. Kung itatwa si Duterte ng mga friends niya, katulad nung Chinese president, ‘di ba pumunta siya do’n nag-travel na lang bigla-bigla as a friend, as a guest of the president of China, ‘yung gano’ng pagtatatwa, maybe it could have an effect saying na hindi na active ‘yung networks niya.”
Conti referred to the resignation of all Duterte family members with government positions, not specifically the allies of the vice president, as what the statement in the fake graphic claimed.
The fabricated graphic card emerged three days after the five-member ICC Appeals Chamber, in its Nov. 28 unanimous decision, denied the appeal for Duterte’s temporary liberty.
To recall, the chamber ruled that it was reasonable for the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to conclude that Duterte’s “political contacts” and “network of support within the Philippines” can help him evade trial.
“Access to international contacts could provide the means to enable a suspect to abscond, whether or not there was evidence that the suspect would actually utilise such contacts,” the Appeal Chambers noted.
Republished by FB page Kitty Duterte fanpages (created on May 20, 2025), two posts carrying the fake graphic—which actually contains an affiliate marketing link that leads users to an e-commerce site—have collectively received 321 engagements. The now-deleted post by page Kitty Duterte (created on Aug. 26, 2012 as KathNiels Gift) had received even more traction.
