Videos posted on YouTube and Facebook (FB) falsely claim that former president Rodrigo Duterte can now be released from detention in The Hague, Netherlands, following the alleged approval of his defense team’s request for an interim release to an undisclosed country.
Originally published on June 13, the inaccurate YouTube video bore the headline that read:
“MAKAKALAYA NA | FPRRD HUMINGI NA NG INTERIM RELEASE | SA IBANG BANSA ANG TULOY | NO OPPOSITION (TO BE RELEASED | FPRRD HAS REQUESTED INTERIM RELEASE | HE WILL PROCEED TO ANOTHER COUNTRY | NO OPPOSITION)
Its thumbnail also carried the text:
PROSECUTION HINDI TUMUTOL SA INTERIM RELEASE
SA WAKAS MAKAKALABAS NA SI FPRRD!
(PROSECUTION DID NOT OBJECT TO INTERIM RELEASE
FINALLY, FPRRD WILL BE FREE TO GO!)”
A portion of the almost 11-minute video, which was merely a political commentary on the interim release filed by Duterte’s camp, was also uploaded twice by an FB user on June 14, even claiming the International Criminal Court (ICC) has already approved the said request:
“It’s confirmed FPRRD makakalabas na sa ICC detention cell… (FPRRD will be released from the ICC detention cell…)
PROSECUTION YES sa interim release… (Prosecution says YES to interim release…)
GOOD NEWS TO ALL FPRRD SUPPORTERS AS OF JUNE 12, 2025 ICC APPROVE INTERIM RELEASE.”
This is false. Duterte remains detained at the ICC’s detention facility in Scheveningen on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his bloody drug war.
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I has yet to rule on the Defense’s 16-page urgent request for interim release of the former president dated June 12.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.