A video posted on Facebook (FB) erroneously claimed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has ordered the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte for his role in the Philippines’ war on drugs.
The narrator also claimed that persons found guilty in the Duterte administration’s bloody drug campaign have already been brought to justice. This is not true either.
Posted on July 17, the 12-minute video carried this headline: “Huhulihin na sa july 18 si dating pangulong digong (Former President Digong [Rodrigo Duterte] will be arrested on July 18)”.
Similar text was superimposed on the video with the addition of “May warrant of arrest na (There is already a warrant of arrest).”
The narrator’s claim in the clip’s 1:50 mark that “Lahat naman ng may kasalanan nanagot naman (All those guilty were brought to justice),” is erroneous.
The video was uploaded a day before the ICC was to announce its decision on the Philippine government’s appeal to stop the resumption of its probe of drug war killings and crimes of humanity committed under the Duterte administration.
On July 18, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 voted 3-2 to junk the appeal, mostly on grounds of jurisdiction after the Philippines’ withdrawal of its membership from the Rome Statute was finalized in March 2019.
The decision had nothing to do with results of the probe, nor the issuance of arrest warrants but it confirmed that the investigation into the drug killings would proceed.
While the Netherlands-based court recognized the government’s effort in prosecuting people involved in Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign, the ICC noted in a Jan. 26 decision that most of the cases filed “only address the physical, low-ranking perpetrators and do not extend to any high-ranking officials.”
Although the Philippines is no longer an ICC member, the court maintains it has jurisdiction over alleged crimes against humanity that were committed prior to the country’s withdrawal from the Commission on March 17, 2019.
The video posted by FB page Mimaa Alicia (created on April 21, 2020 as Useless) received 132,000 views, 3,400 interactions, 1,900 comments and 201 shares.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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