A Facebook user recycled an old graphic claiming that a certain senator from the United States has expressed support for former president Rodrigo Duterte amid his continued detention under the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This is fake.
Revived in a March 8 FB post, the graphic bore images of Duterte and the alleged American senator named “George Perry Floyd Jr.” from the “State of Leonida,” saying:
“I personally know former President Rodrigo Duterte, and he is a close friend of mine. Over the years, we have spent time together during holidays and shared many conversations, including discussions about Gooning as a topic of interest, as well as hobbies such as Motorboating and Jetskiing.
When I learned that his request for interim release was denied, I can’t breathe properly due to deep disappointment and distress. As a U.S. Senator from the State of Leonida, I will do everything I can through Barely Legal that is, strictly lawful means to support my good friend, with the hope that he will be released and able to return to Davao City to spend Christmas with his family.”
This quote card contains several red flags. First, there is no “State of Leonida” in the U.S. To lend credibility, the graphic used the first U.S. Senate seal, not the current version and the third design since 1789. Third, George Perry Floyd Jr. is not an American senator but a black man who was killed on May 25, 2020 by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Multiple rounds of reverse image and keyword searches reveal that the digitally altered image in the bogus graphic used the photo of Floyd, published by the New York Times on May 26, 2020, and credited to the “Offices of Ben Crump Law.”
A reverse image search of the entire quote card shows it has been circulating as early as December 2025, with at least three posts that remain publicly accessible on FB.
The fraudulent graphic resurfaced this year, two days after the ICC Appeals Chamber upheld the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s Jan. 26 decision that Duterte must remain detained as he faces alleged crimes against humanity during his term as Davao City mayor and as president.
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked another made-up quote card featuring a supposed pro-Duterte princess of the United Arab Emirates.
The fictitious quote card has so far garnered 27,000 reactions; 1,000 comments; and 1,000 shares.
