A Facebook page falsely claims that former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for crimes against humanity, will be returning to the Philippines. This is false.
On July 26, an FB page wrote:
“Confirmed, Tatay Digong will be released next week. The entire Philippines will celebrate sa pagbalik nya (his return). Thank you Lord🙏”
No official notice or announcement says Duterte will be released anytime soon. In fact, the ICC has scheduled the opening of his trial for crimes against humanity on Nov. 30.
Several other posts have falsely attributed the claim to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.
However, the young Duterte herself denied making such a claim. In a chance interview at The Hague, she and a pro-Duterte vlogger had the following exchange:
“Vlogger: VP Inday, marami po kasing (there are many) claims circulating on different social media platforms, Ma’am, putting your statement doon sa (at the) London rally, Ma’am, out of context, na sinabi niyo raw […] lalabas na si PRRD (that you said PRRD will be released) next week from the ICC, Ma’am. Just to set the record straight, is there a truth to that claims (sic)?
Sara: Wala akong sinabi doon sa speech ko na lalabas na si PRRD next week. Hindi ko alam kung saan nagsimula ‘yung ganoon pero definitely, wala doon sa transcript na nagsabi ako na lalabas na si PRRD sa ICC […] next week, dahil alam naman nating lahat at nakikita natin sa ICC website ‘yung schedule ng kanyang kaso, at kung makikita natin na walang schedule na hearing ng release, at ang mayro’n lang ay ‘yung kanyang trial
(I did not say in my speech that PRRD would return from the ICC next week. I do not know where that came from, but definitely, the transcript definitely does not show me saying that PRRD will be returning from the ICC next week. Afterall, we all know, and can see on the ICC website, the schedule of his case, and we can see that there is no scheduled hearing for a release, but rather only for his trial).”
The vlogger was referring to the vice president’s July 25 visit to the United Kingdom, where she shared with a crowd of supporters that she would be seeing her father the week afterward.
Published by the FB page Senyora Maria (created May 11, 2016) with over 33,000 followers, the post has garnered over 250,000 reactions, 15,000 comments and 9,600 shares, as of writing.
