Several netizens are using a video of a plane arriving at an airport to claim that Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte sought help from China to rescue overseas Filipino workers from war-torn Middle East. This is false.
This is an old clip published in August 2023 showing a Philippine Airlines plane landing in Toronto, Canada.
The 24-second clip was first published by a TikTok user on March 9 with the following text::
“MAYOR BASTE DUTERTE. BASTE DUTERTE HUMINGI NG TULONG SA CHINA PARA SA PAGLIKAS NG MGA PINOY SA MIDDLE EAST. safe ang ofw proud baste Duterte thank you sir
(Mayor Baste Duterte. Baste Duterte asked help from China for the evacuation of Filipinos in the Middle East. OFWs are safe proud Baste Duterte. Thank you, sir).”
The misleading video was reposted by multiple accounts on Facebook. One netizen, who reposted the clip on March 10, added a caption stating:
“Yong president namroblema dahil Wala daw lumilipad na eroplano. Bakit si Mayor BASTE nakagawa ng paraan
(The president said he was having problems there are no planes flying [from the Middle East]. Why was Mayor Baste able to find a way).”
On March 12, another FB page claimed that the plane was flying from Qatar to the Philippines but was not reported on national television. It further stated that OFWs safely arrived in the Philippines.
Several rounds of reverse image searches led to a clear copy of the video posted on a TikTok account of an aviation enthusiast on Aug. 8, 2023. It stated in the caption that the aircraft is a PAL Airbus A350-941 landing at the Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada.
Visual cues in the footage also indicate that the landing scene was not taken in the Philippines or in the Middle East. In the latter part of the clip, a bus with the logo “Mi expresss,” a public transit service in Ontario, Canada can be seen passing by. A road sign pointing to Toronto Pearson is also visible.
No official reports support the claim that Duterte requested China’s help to repatriate OFWs.
The false video appeared amid the continuing war of the United States and Israel against Iran. President Ferdinand Marcos drew criticism on March 4 after saying that repatriation was impossible because there were no planes flying at that time. As of March 15, over 300 Filipinos have returned from Saudi Arabia on a flight chartered by the government.
As of writing, the video shared by a TikTok user received 1.2 million views; 68,100 reactions; 3,517 comments; and 5,182 shares. Three copies reposted by FB page Cat’s Eye (created March 26, 2025) and two netizens collectively garnered 1.2 million views; 32,800 reactions; 3,173 comments; and 5,955 shares.
