FACT CHECK: ICC did not junk Duterte’s case; post misrepresents old VP Sara statement

The misleading post uses an old audio clip of Vice President Sara Duterte, in which she was referring to the defense’s challenge questioning the ICC’s jurisdiction over her father’s case Claim: The International Criminal Court (ICC) junked the case against detained former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, as confirmed by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook reel, posted on August 2, has already received 1.6 million views, 65,300 reactions, 3,200 comments, and 6,700 shares as of writing. It shows videos of the Vice President speaking before a crowd and her father shaking hands with US President Donald Trump. The text on the post reads, “Pagbabasura ng kaso ni DU30 (Dismissal of Duterte’s case).” The post also includes audio of the Vice President in which she says, “Ngayon ay nakalagay na officially sa ICC website ‘yung pagbabasura ng kaso dahil sa kawalan ng jurisdiction ng ICC.” (The dismissal of the case due to the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction has now been officially posted on the ICC website.) The facts: The ICC did not dismiss the case against Duterte. He remains detained in The Hague, Netherlands, awaiting the start of his trial for crimes against humanity on November 30. The misleading post uses old videos and misrepresented statements. The Vice President’s remark was about the defense challenge submitted by her father’s counsel in May 2025, questioning the ICC’s jurisdiction over the case, and how this was now officially published and accessible on the ICC website. The ICC pre-trial chamber judges upheld its jurisdiction over Duterte’s crimes against humanity case in a decision issued in October 2025. VERA Files debunked a similar false claim taking out of context the same audio statement by the Vice President. The video of the Vice President in front of Duterte supporters at a rally in The Hague, Netherlands on July 29 has nothing to do with the false claim. The misrepresented statement was not taken from that speech. Meanwhile, the interaction between Duterte and Trump did not happen recently. It was in November 2017 during the opening ceremony of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit. Duterte ICC case: The case against Duterte is still ongoing; the ICC confirmed the charges against him in April and scheduled the start of his trial in November. The former president was arrested in March 2025. He faces three counts of crimes against humanity due to his alleged involvement in the killings under his war on drugs and the Davao Death Squad. ICC jurisdiction: Contrary to the claim, the ICC affirmed its jurisdiction over the Philippines as the alleged crimes were committed when it was still a state party of the ICC. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019. In an April 2026 decision, the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected all four arguments raised by Duterte’s camp and also rendered moot the defense’s request for the immediate and unconditional release of the former Philippine leader. Previous fact checks: Rappler has previously fact-checked similar false claims about Duterte’s ICC detention: FACT CHECK: Duterte remains detained; VP Sara not at ICC to ‘pick up’ her father FACT CHECK: Duterte not set to be released amid US push to dismantle ICC FACT CHECK: ICC did not say evidence vs Duterte is insufficient FACT CHECK: ICC did not junk Duterte’s 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 – Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time. How does this make you feel? Loading