A graphic is circulating on Facebook claiming that the International Criminal Court (ICC) granted former president Rodrigo Duterte a “one-hour day pass” to spend time with his family, outside the Scheveningen prison complex in The Hague, Netherlands. This is fake.
Multiple FB users and pages reposted the graphic between Jan. 24 to 26. It carried a photo of a smiling Vice President Sara Duterte, with an arm around her father who looked gaunt and with disheveled long hair. It had the headline:
“Masaya si VP Sara dahil pinayagang lumabas ng ICC ng isang oras si Rodrigo Duterte para makasama ang pamilya”
(VP Sara is happy because the ICC allowed Rodrigo Duterte to leave the ICC for one hour to be with his family)
The viral post is fake and used an altered photo taken from a Facebook user’s post dated July 8, 2025. A reverse image search revealed the graphic is a composite. The AI-generated photo of the former president was combined with an image of the vice president during her visit to The Hague last July 7, 2025.
The original photo of the vice president— published by a Facebook user and media outlets at the time—was taken outside the ICC detention facility.
Under the ICC’s Regulations of the Registry, indicated in Chapter 5, Section 2, Regulation 183, visits are allowed but are conducted strictly within its detention unit. These visits are monitored and remain within sight and hearing of detention center staff. There is no ‘day pass’ granted to leave the facility.
The fake graphic appeared following news of the former president’s legal setbacks, particularly the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s final ruling on Jan. 26 that he is fit to stand trial for charges of alleged crimes against humanity. The confirmation of charges hearing has been set on Feb. 23.
Published by Facebook pages Explore Unseen Travel PH (created October 2024), BBM United Hongkong (created December 2018), and other FB users, the posts have garnered a total of 11,909 reactions, 2,958 comments, and 871 shares across the platform.
