CLAIM: Former president Rodrigo Duterte has been released by the International Criminal Court and is coming home to the Philippines
RATING: FALSE
An interview clip of Vice President Sara Duterte is making the rounds on TikTok, falsely claiming that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been released from detention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is set to go back to the Philippines.
The TikTok video shows Sara thanking the crowd for their support amid the former president’s arrest for alleged crimes against humanity.
The page that spread the spliced clip captioned it with the words “FPRRD makakauwi na sa Pilipinas” (FPRRD will return to the Philippines), falsely stating that the former president had been freed from detention.
The clip was cut from a report by SMNI News livestreamed on March 25.
In the full recording, there was no formal announcement that ex-president Duterte had been dropped from ICC custody. Sara only mentioned that her father wanted to return to the Philippines to run for another term as mayor of Davao City.
The official Facebook pages of Sara and Rodrigo Duterte also offered no announcements that the latter had been released.
The ICC’s Case Information Sheet on the former president indicates that the next step of the prosecution is the confirmation of charges, set to begin on Sept. 23.
As of posting time, the TikTok clip has amassed 73,500 reactions and 4,541 shares. Lance Isaac Reamon
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