Multiple quote cards circulating on Facebook claim that Davao City Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte has threatened to destabilize the Philippines if his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, dies in detention in the Scheveningen prison in The Hague, Netherlands. This is fake.
In a Facebook post on Jan. 20, bearing a side-by-side photo of the congressman and President Ferdinand Marcos, the younger Duterte was quoted as saying:
“Pulong: Pag ang tatay ko namayapa sa kulungan, ‘di ko gagawing mapayapa ang pilipinas.”
(Pulong: If my father passes away in jail, I will not make the Philippines peaceful.)
Two other quote cards with the same statement were posted the following day. Different photos of the lawmaker and the president were used in the subsequent posts, which had lengthy captions, that started with a warning:
“BABALA NI CONG. PAOLO DUTERTE KAY PBBM“
“CONG. PAOLO DUTERTE, MAY BABAALA (sic) KAY PBBM“
The posts are fake. The Davao lawmaker made no such statement on his social media account. Neither has there been any published news account of him making such threat.
The quote cards appeared after the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued its decision on Jan. 12 rejecting the Duterte camp’s request to appeal a procedural ruling regarding access to medical communications. On Jan. 26, the court ruled the erstwhile Philippine president is fit to stand trial. The elder Duterte was arrested on March 12, 2025 for alleged crimes against humanity.
The viral claim is a distorted version of a statement the congressman posted on his official Facebook page on Oct. 11, 2025. The actual remarks were made in reaction to the ICC’s rejection of the elder Duterte’s plea for interim release.
On his Facebook status, the Davao City representative condemned the ICC’s decision as “political theater,” describing it as “gross,” and “disgraceful.”
The lawmaker also warned those he described as his father’s “kidnappers,” vowing that he would ensure they face consequences for what he termed a criminal act.
Major news agencies reported on Duterte’s official statement immediately after it was posted, but there was no mention of the statement used in the quote card.
The fictitious quote cards posted by a Facebook user, and FB pages Pinoy Trending (created Aug. 7, 2020) and Showbuzz (created Jan. 21, 2021) have collectively garnered a total of 20,852 reactions, 19,800 comments, and 968 shares.
