CLAIM: Former president Rodrigo Duterte has been acquitted of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the judges backed out of hearing the case.
RATING: FALSE
A YouTube video reasserted a false claim that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte after judges “backed out” of the proceedings.
Flagged-content: A video on YouTube uploaded on Feb. 28 by channel “Philippine Trending News” falsely claiming that Duterte’s charges have been dismissed.
- The video’s title, “SAWAKAS! HETO NA! PRRD PANALO NA! 1CC JUDGE KUMP1RMA NA UMATRAS NA! GOODNEWS D1SM1SSED N0T GU1LTY?” used intentional misspellings and numerical substitutions, likely to evade algorithmic moderation.
- Translated from Tagalog, the headline claimed former President Rodrigo Duterte won his case after an ICC judge supposedly withdrew and dismissed the charges.
- The video featured a clip from vlogger Byron Cristobal’s YouTube channel, “Banat By,” in which he reacted to news reports of Duterte’s arrest.
- The post was uploaded by pro-Duterte YouTube account “Philippine Trending News,” which has been the subject of fact-checks by various news organizations and is listed in our news-cycle disinformation tracker.
Our debunk: The International Criminal Court has not dismissed the case against Duterte. It is currently in the pre-trial phase, not yet at full trial.
- Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing concluded Feb. 27, 2026.
- Under court regulations, judges have 60 days from the end of that hearing to issue a written decision on whether the evidence is sufficient to move to a formal trial.
- The former president remains in ICC custody at The Hague in the Netherlands while the Pre-Trial Chamber deliberates.
Rewind: Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after arriving from Hong Kong.
- Philippine authorities executed the ICC warrant charging the former president with crimes against humanity for his administration’s “war on drugs”.
- He was immediately transferred to the Netherlands and has remained in detention in The Hague for over a year while the case remains in the pre-trial phase.
Why we fact-checked this: As of this writing, the video has been viewed 13,417 times and has amassed 611 likes and 49 comments.
- The YouTube channel has amassed 539,000 subscribers by primarily posting disinformation riding on the current news cycle.
Spot the fake: Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest has been mired in disinformation since the beginning.
- In October 2025, PressOne.PH investigated more than 100 TikTok accounts that amplified false narratives regarding his detention in The Hague.
- Fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked false reports that the case was dismissed, that Duterte returned to the Philippines, and that a prosecutor granted a motion for his release.
- The disinformation spilled beyond the arrest to include false claims about the Netherlands, such as a statement by aspiring politician Jimmy Bondoc that the country allows the use of hard drugs. Nikko Balbedina with reports from Jelly Lustre
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FACT-CHECK: ICC has not acquitted ex-president Duterte of crime against humanity
A YouTube video reasserted a false claim that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte after judges “backed out” of the proceedings.
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