A viral Facebook reel is showing Vice President Sara Duterte supposedly announcing that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is returning home soon from The Hague, Netherlands. This is false.
Published on May 16, the 12-second video features a clip of VP Duterte addressing the public. It has an overlaid text that read:
“Magdiwang daw tayo kasi uuwi na si FPRRD. Lab-as at nakapisik pisik na balita.“
The erroneous post has a caption stating:
“FPRRD uuwi na! #followerseveryonehighlights #everyoneシ゚ #viralreelschallenge #virals #latest #trendingnow #popular #reelschallenge”
Former president Duterte is not returning to the country soon.
The clip used in the post was taken from Sara’s birthday greeting to her father, posted on March 29. In the video, she thanked her father’s supporters for gathering to celebrate his 80th birthday on March 28 and calling for his return from The Hague. However, the part where Sara mentioned the elder Duterte’s 80th birthday was cut to make it appear she was saying he would soon be home.
In the latter part of the clip, the younger Duterte asked the supporters to continue praying for the immediate release of her father, who was arrested on March 11 under a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody drug war during his presidency.
The former president remains detained in Scheveningen, the ICC’s detention facility in The Hague as he awaits the confirmation of charges hearing scheduled on Sept. 23.
False claims about Duterte returning home have circulated online since he won the mayoral race in Davao City in the May 12 midterm polls, despite his detention. He secured 662,630 votes against four other candidates.
The false post has garnered 5.2 million views, 101,000 reactions, 10,200 comments, and 6,400 shares as of writing.
