FACT CHECK: ICC did not junk Duterte’s case

Claim: The International Criminal Court (ICC) dismissed the crimes against humanity case against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook post shows a photo of Duterte with his children, Vice President Sara Duterte and Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte, outside the ICC in The Hague, The Netherlands. They are shown accompanied by Duterte’s defense lawyer Peter Haynes, former lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, and ICC Judge Joanna Korner.

The image was posted on June 13 and has since garnered over 7,850 reactions, 1,130 comments, and 430 shares. Text overlaid on the photo says, “Yes, binasura na ang kaso ni Tatay Digong. Yes, makakauwi na si Tatay Digz sa Pilipinas.”

(Yes, Father Digong’s case has been dismissed. Yes, Father Digz can now come home to the Philippines.) 

The claim was shared by a Facebook user named “Taiwan Wailao,” who has been consistently posting pro-Duterte and anti-Marcos content on a Facebook group named “Sara Duterte Supporters,” which has over 489,300 members.

On TikTok, user “NRPRedona,” with over 6,800 followers, posted the same image along with another image of the Dutertes, Kaufman, and Korner inside a car. The post was made on June 5 and has garnered over 3,900 reactions, 180 comments, and 100 shares.

The facts: The ICC did not dismiss Duterte’s case. The court’s website still lists the case as active, and Duterte is still detained in The Hague.

Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, and was brought to The Hague on May 12, 2025, to face three counts of crimes against humanity of murder connected to his war on drugs, which human rights groups say killed an estimated 30,000 people.

In April 2026, the ICC confirmed all the charges against the former president, sending his case to a full trial. The first status conference on the case was held on May 27, during which the ICC Trial Chamber III scheduled the start of Duterte’s trial on November 30.

The former president is set to appear in person for the trial, unlike in previous hearings, where he has been absent. (READ: TIMELINE: The road to Duterte’s trial at the International Criminal Court)

Deepfake: The images used in the posts are fake and were generated using artificial intelligence (AI). DeCopy’s AI image analysis, an online software tool that flags AI-generated content, shows that the image accompanying the claim has a 87% probability of being AI-generated. 

Rappler has previously debunked similar AI-generated claims regarding Duterte’s supposed return to the Philippines, his health, and his ICC case:

• FACT CHECK: Photos of Duterte being assisted in ICC courtroom are AI-generated
• FACT CHECK: Video of ICC judge saying Duterte should not be imprisoned is AI-generated 
• FACT CHECK: Rodrigo Duterte is alive, still detained at the ICC 
• FACT CHECK: Ex-president Duterte is alive, in ICC custody
• FACT CHECK: News graphic claiming ICC will release Duterte is fake

– Reinnard Balonzo/Rappler.com 

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