A post on Threads claimed that former president Rodrigo Duterte was a recipient of the United States (U.S.) International Anti-Corruption Award. This is satire. The claim originated from a 2021 parody post.
Readers asked VERA Files Fact Check to verify claim on the quote card posted on Feb. 24, with the following caption:
“Sa lahat naging pangulo sa ating bansa si Tay Digong lang ang may award GALING sa U.S at higit sa lahat ANTI CORRUPTION pa..oi mga loyalist di yan fakenews sakit sa mata yan haha.”
(Among all the presidents of our country, only Tay Digong (ex-president Rodrigo Duterte) received this award FROM the U.S. and above all it had to do with ANTI-CORRUPTION… hey loyalists this is not fake news, you just have eye problems.)
The original image was posted by Cebu Dairy News, a Facebook (FB) satire page, on Oct. 11, 2021. Duterte received no such award.
READ: VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Post on US award for Duterte a SATIRE
It was Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto who received the honors. The U.S. State Department named Sotto as one of its 12 international anti-corruption champions on Feb. 24, 2021.
Contrary to the post’s claim, Duterte faces a plunder complaint filed by former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in July 2024. Trillanes accused Duterte and his former aide, reelectionist Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, of awarding 184 contracts worth more than P6 billion from 2007 to 2018 to companies owned by the senator’s family.
The image re-circulated following Duterte’s speech during the Cebu People’s Indignation Rally in Mandaue City last Feb. 22. The former president endorsed the senatorial slate of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban), which he chairs.
Preceding the Threads post by verified account @_amy.nurse11 was a now-deleted post by the FB page Duterte Fans Club. Before it was taken down, the post garnered over 1,700 reactions, 486 comments and 256 shares.
The original FB post by Cebu Dairy News, also now deleted, was similarly reposted by the satire page Crabbler on Feb. 24 with over 1,900 reactions, 100 comments and 149 shares.
