Posts misrepresent unrelated videos as 'Rodrigo Duterte's release' from ICC detention
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."
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Screenshot of the false post, taken on May 23, 2025
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.
Reverse image searches of the first section of the video using keyframes led to a Facebook post by a page called Mom Duty on April 23, 2025 (archived link).
The video circulating in the false posts misuses the first 17-seconds of the clip, cutting off before the woman approaches an information counter and finds out the crowds were gathering to catch a glimpse of Korean actor Lee Minho. The latter half of the video contains various clips of Lee walking through the airport.
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Screenshot comparison of the false video (L) and the video from Facebook page Mom Duty
The user behind the page -- who identified herself as Rocio Ocampo -- confirmed filming the video on October 16, 2023 as part of her family's YouTube travel vlog (archived link).
"We're a family of travel vloggers, and on October 16, 2023, we were traveling to South Korea to celebrate our twins' birthday," she told AFP. "As part of our vlog, we documented our journey starting at Manila International Airport, where we happened to see Lee Minho".
"Our content has been reshared and reposted by others thousands of times, often without proper context or credit, which may have contributed to the confusion," Ocampo said.
AFP found the user's video corresponded to similar clips of the actor at the Manila-based airport shared on that day (archived links here and here).
February campaign event
The second part of the circulating video shows Duterte, clad in a red shirt and a brown jacket, greeting supporters as he walks towards an event stage.
Reverse image searches on Google led to the same video on TikTok shared on March 1, 2025, more than a week before Duterte's arrest (archived link).
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Screenshot of the false video (L) and the March 1 TikTok video
Subsequent keyword searches found the footage of Duterte matched a YouTube video of his local political party's campaign event called "Hugpong Youth Summit" uploaded on March 6, 2025 (archived link). He can be seen wearing the same outfit inside an identical venue to the one seen in the TikTok video.
The event, held on February 28 in Duterte's bailiwick Davao city, was part of his political party's mid-term election campaign (archived link).
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