A video circulating on Facebook claims to show a news report that detained former president Rodrigo Duterte has returned to the Philippines. This is false.
Duterte remains in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands amid ongoing legal proceedings related to charges of alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s anti-drug campaign. An old news report was edited to deceive viewers into thinking that it was about the former president’s return.
On Nov. 12, a Facebook user posted a video of GMA News anchors Connie Sison and Raffy Tima reporting for the noontime program Balitanghali. A clip of a man reacting to the news segment was inserted at the bottom of the video. The reel featured superimposed text that read:
“Hala ang atuwang tatay DIGONG FPRRD naka uwi na. welcome home tatay DIGONG. NAMISS KA NG BUONG PILIPINAS TATAY DIGONG WELCOME HOME”
(Wow, father Digong FPRRD is home. Welcome home, Tatay Digong. The whole Philippines missed you, Tatay Digong. Welcome home!)
The caption of the 18-second video stated:
“Oh yan na sakit sa dibdib to sa mga anti Duterte sabihin na man na fake news na naman to dito na talaga ang tatay namin”
(Oh, here it is. This is going to be a heartache for anti-Duterte people. They will probably call this fake news again, but our father is really here now)
A reverse image search reveals that the clip was taken from a news report uploaded on March 11, 2025 to GMA Integrated News’ official YouTube channel. The original report covered the arrival of Duterte in the Philippines after he attended a thanksgiving event in Hong Kong, the same day he was arrested by the Philippine National Police and Interpol.
The false video intentionally omitted the part where the anchor mentioned that Duterte had come from Hong Kong. In the original video, her spiel was: “Mainit-init na balita, nakauwi na sa bansa si dating pangulong Rodrigo Duterte matapos dumalo sa isang pagtitipon sa Hong Kong nitong weekend.”
Duterte remains detained in Scheveningen, a Dutch prison complex, while waiting for his confirmation of charges hearing, which was indefinitely postponed last Sept. 8 after his defense camp said he was “not fit to stand trial.” On Nov. 14, the ICC appointed a new medical expert to join the panel that will assess Duterte’s health condition and determine his fitness to stand trial.
As of writing, the incorrect reel posted by Facebook user Mang Kepwing (created July 10, 2018) has received 32,000 views, 781 reactions, 247 comments, and 81 shares.
