A Facebook page is claiming that former president Rodrigo Duterte had “possibly flown to Singapore” after the International Criminal Court supposedly granted him interim release. This is false.
As of July 24, reports from local media organizations quoting ICC spokesperson Fadi El-Abdallah said Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s drug war, is still detained at the ICC detention facility in Scheveningen penitentiary in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Published on July 26, the inaccurate post carried a headline written in a local dialect that read:
“FPRRD nakagawas na sa ICC Detention Center human gi-grant ang interim release ni Duterte! July 26, 2025 (FRRP has been released from the ICC Detention Center after being granted interim release by Duterte! July 26, 2025)”
It also bore the following caption:
“NAKAGAWAS na si Tatay Digong sa ICC Detention Center human kini gikaingon nga gi-grant sa maong hukuman ang interim release o temporaryong paglaya ni Duterte habang dinidinig ang kaso.
Allegedly wala na sa Netherlands si Duterte ug possibling nilupad na kini padulong Singapore para didto mag stay kay dili man kini makauli sa Pilipinas.
Sa kasamtangan nilupad napud si Baste Duterte kauban ang iyang pamilya para tagbuon ug ipahilona ang iyang amahan.
(Tatay Digong has been released from the ICC Detention Center after the court reportedly granted Duterte interim release or temporary freedom while the case is being heard.
Duterte is allegedly no longer in the Netherlands and has possibly flown to Singapore to stay there since he cannot return to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, [Davao City Acting Mayor Sebastian] Baste Duterte flew with his family to see and help his father settle down).”
The caption included a link to a supposed video of Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement on her father’s release. This is clickbait that redirects netizens to a product page of an e-commerce website.
![ICC spokesperson Fadi El-Abdallah has confirmed that “there is no change in the status of [former president Rodrigo Duterte],” noting “he is still in the ICC detention center.”](https://verafiles.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/kPP-icc-spokesperson-fadi-el-abdallah-confirmed.jpg)
In a statement, El-Abdallah confirmed that “there is no change in the status of Mr. Duterte,” noting “he is still in the ICC detention center.”
In a July 24 Inquirer article, Caroline Maurel, an officer from the Public Information and Outreach Section of the ICC, was quoted as saying that the court would promptly and officially confirm it to the press if a suspect were to be released from the chamber’s custody.
The FB page also claimed that the former president’s younger son, Davao City acting Mayor Baste Duterte, and his family left for Singapore to meet and help his father settle down. This has no basis.
On July 27, Baste Duterte shared on his official FB page a copy of a travel authority issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, dated July 20. The document, signed by Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, granted the Davao City acting mayor permission to travel to Singapore from July 25 to 29 for a “personal reason.” No further details about his trip were mentioned in the document.
The National Bureau of Investigation earlier confirmed that Baste Duterte, together with his family and staff, left for Singapore on July 25.
The post with untrue claims surfaced four days after the vice president refused to confirm nor deny talks that her father had been released from the ICC detention facility.
Interviewed in The Hague on July 22, Sara Duterte said she knew the answer but was unsure if she was allowed to comment on the matter, suggesting that questions be directed instead to defense lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman.
Published by FB page Boom Media – Lapu Lapu (created on April 1, 2025), the false claim has so far garnered 1,423 interactions.
