A Facebook post is claiming that former president Rodrigo Duterte is on his way back to the Philippines. This is fake.
The post published on July 31 features a graphic with three photos of former president Rodrigo Duterte in a wheelchair alongside his children, Vice President Sara Duterte and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano. In two of the photos, Duterte is carrying two suitcases on his lap. One shows Cayetano pushing his wheelchair, and the other shows the senator hugging the former president.
It is captioned:
“THANKYOU LORD 🙏❤️ PRRD Uuwi ng pilipinas ng… (Thank you, Lord! 🙏❤️ PRRD is going home to the Philippines)
The author of the post left a comment in the post, saying Duterte is finally going back home. The same graphic was reuploaded two days after its initial circulation with a similar caption.
Visual signs in the graphics suggest it may have been generated using AI, such as the identical faces of three people in the photo and the distorted face of the former president. Based on the results of AI detection tools Decopy AI and AI or Not, the photo used in the post is 95% AI-generated and 49% made using deepfake.
The link attached to the post redirects to an online shopping website.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has not issued any order for provisional liberty, authorization, or release that would legally allow the former president to travel back to the Philippines.
The elder Duterte remains under ICC custody, awaiting his trial for crimes against humanity scheduled to begin on Nov. 30.
The fake post surfaced after Vice President Sara renewed her call for his immediate release during her visit to her father on July 28. She said that the continued detention of the former president is unjust and politically motivated.
Posted by Robin Padilla Supporters with 50,000 followers, the post has so far garnered 1,023 reactions, 408 comments, and 131 shares.
