A clip of former president Rodrigo Duterte supposedly in a virtual interview inside his cell in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) detention center in The Hague is circulating online. The footage was edited and taken from an online interview when Duterte was in Hong Kong before he was even arrested in Manila.
On May 26, a Facebook (FB) user posted a 29-second clip of Duterte, seemingly inside his detention room, answering a reporter’s questions. The video bore the text:
“Pakinggan natin. Former President Rodrigo Roa DUTERTE. Latest update ni “TATAY DIGONG” AT NETHERLAND HAGUE ICC. Ang huling bilin ni FPRRD kay vp inday (Let’s listen. Former President Rodrigo Roa DUTERTE. Latest update of “TATAY DIGONG” AT NETHERLAND HAGUE ICC. The final reminder to vp inday).”
At the 00:12-second mark, a reporter can be heard asking Duterte what he has advised Vice President Sara Duterte. The former president answered:
“‘Pag nawala ako sa political scene – either nataggal ako o namatay ako or whatever ano mang… for any reason. Sabi ko sa kanya, hiningi ko na sa Pilipinas na tulungan ka pagdating ng panahon (‘If I disappear from the political scene – either I am removed or I die or whatever… for any reason. I told her, I have already asked the Philippines to help you when the time comes).”
A longer version of the edited clip has been circulating online since April.
The video is fabricated. An interview of Duterte with GMA Integrated taken on March 10, a day before his arrest, was edited to make it seem that it was taken recently inside his cell.
On March 12, the You Tube channel of GMA Integrated Ne uploaded portions of the interview with Duterte where he was asked about his then pending ICC arrest and the vice president’s impeachment, among others.
The clip was edited using a photo of a standard cell in the ICC detention center as background to fool netizens. The ICC’s Flicker account posted the photo in 2009.
The edited video resurfaced this May four days after the ICC prosecution team called for the rejection of the request by Duterte’s counsel to disqualify Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera from adjudicating the issue of jurisdiction.
VERA Files has debunked several mis- and disinformation related to the ICC investigation of the alleged killings during his administration’s drug war.
Three posts from FB users collectively garnered 30,360 reactions, 1,976 comments, 2,557 shares and 1,372,000 views.
