Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte regained the mayorship of his family stronghold Davao city while detained at The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity but has not been granted interim release by the International Criminal Court. Social media posts by his supporters claiming otherwise have misrepresented a video of a Korean actor at the Manila airport and a clip of Duterte prior to his arrest.
The video apparently showing crowds welcoming the arrested ex-president at the Manila international airport was shared on Facebook on May 16.
“Just in, Father Digong has returned to the country. Welcome home, Father Digong,” claims the Tagalog-language caption.
Overlaid text on the video reads, “Manila Airport Chaos”. A woman at the beginning of the video tells the camera: “I wonder what’s going on because there are a ton of people here, even on the top floor, it’s like they’re all waiting for some kind of celebrity.”
Several other Facebook users posted the video after Duterte regained the mayorship of family stronghold Davao city despite being detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague since March 11 to face a crimes against humanity charge linked to his drug war that killed thousands (archived links here and here).
However, there are no official records on the ICC website granting Duterte’s interim release as of May 26, 2025 (archived link).
The circulating video contains footage from two separate occasions, both predating Duterte’s detention at The Hague.
Read the full story on AFP Fact Check.