A Facebook (FB) post is claiming that United States President Donald Trump has expressed support for former president Rodrigo Duterte following his arrest by international and local police. This is fake.
The post published on March 12 by an FB user bore the logo of American news outlet The Washington Post and read:
“Dear Philippines,
I am deeply saddened to hear the news today about my good friend Rodrigo. I immediately contacted President Xi of China to discuss this serious matter about our good friend Rodrigo.
“Do not worry, Filipinos — your leader is our good friend, and we stand behind him. We will protect Rodrigo and the Filipino people from the oppression you are facing. I, and the United States will not allow any of our allies and friends to suffer, and we will impose sanctions against the Marcos Administration for the unlawful act they did.”
There is no image, quote or article containing such statement from Trump on Duterte’s arrest that appeared on The Washington Post.
Neither has the U.S. leader issued any statement on the former Philippine president’s arrest through his social media accounts. Official White House channels have also not published any statement from Trump on the matter.
Duterte was arrested on March 11 by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Manila and the Philippine National Police following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was flown to The Netherlands the same day to face confirmation of charges in The Hague, where ICC is headquartered.
The ICC has been investigating the killings related to the bloody war on drugs under Duterte’s administration which saw tens of thousands of suspected drug users and pushers killed without due process.
The fake post has so far garnered over 1,000 reactions, 151 comments and 2,500 shares.
