A video circulating on Facebook claims to show a crowd gathering at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the supposed release of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who has been detained at the Scheveningen facility for alleged crimes against humanity. This is false.
The clip was taken during a pro-Duterte prayer rally in Milan, Italy on March 16, five days after the former president was arrested in Manila and flown to The Hague, Netherlands. Duterte remains detained at the ICC detention center after the Appeals Chamber rejected his plea for interim release on Nov. 28.
On Dec. 10, a Facebook user uploaded a 21-second video panning over a throng of people with an overlaid text that read:
“Magagalit na naman ang mga loyalist ngayon (The loyalists will be angry again).”
The clip features a split-screen format with a man reacting to the clip on the right side. The speaker in the background stated:
“Good news mga kababayan, ngayong araw ay release ni former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte kaya maraming tao dito sa ICC dahil release ni Tatay Digong para makauwi na siya sa Davao. At siguradong magagalit na naman ang mga loyalist ngayon. At kung ikaw ay solid Duterte, paki-share na lang, comment. Salamat
(Good news, my countrymen, today is the release of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte, so there are many people here at the ICC because Tatay Digong is being released so he can go home to Davao. And the loyalists will definitely be angry again now. And if you are a solid Duterte, please share, comment. Thank you).”
A reverse image search using keyframes led to the original video posted by a TikTok user on March 17. The text overlaid on the clip read: “Filipinos in Milan, Italy.”
The reverse image search also yielded similar videos uploaded by other users on YouTube and Facebook, likewise identifying the event as a prayer rally in Milan, Italy. Reports confirm that overseas Filipino workers in Italy gathered last March 16 to denounce Duterte’s arrest.
The former president remains detained at the Scheveningen prison in The Hague while awaiting trial on charges related to the thousands of extrajudicial killings under his drug war campaign during his presidency.
The erroneous video surfaced after the ICC Appeals Chamber denied Duterte’s appeal to overturn the earlier ruling of Pre-trial Chamber I rejecting his request for interim release.
As of writing, the false video uploaded by FB user Aguila ng Maynila Vlogger has so far garnered 1 million views, 35,700 reactions, 10,000 shares and 6,500 comments.
