By Leigh San Diego
PressOne.PH

 

A pro-Duterte network was observed pushing a false narrative on Facebook and TikTok, falsely claiming that the United Nations Human Rights Council had filed a case against the Marcos administration for allegedly using the International Criminal Court against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Why it matters: Duterte supporters have consistently flooded the social media with disinformation whenever a development in the detained ex-president’s case emerges, distorting the public understanding and opinion about the ICC.

  • The timing of the activity coincided with the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I’s denial of the Duterte counsel’s appeal against his confirmed charges.
  • The posts also surfaced ahead of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s ICC arrest and Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida’s remarks calling the senator a “fugitive.”
  • These developments created a perfect storm for the network to flood Facebook and TikTok with a false narrative at the exact moment when the public was focusing on Duterte and dela Rosa’s legal status.

Catch-up quick: Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing was held from Feb. 23-27, and the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I ruled on April 23 that substantial grounds exist to believe that he is responsible for the alleged crimes against humanity.

  • Dela Rosa shocked the public on May 11 when he appeared in the Senate after a six-month long absence.
  • With dela Rosa in attendance, Duterte-allied senators were able to gather 13 votes to shift the chamber’s leadership just ahead of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
  • Dela Rosa’s whereabouts were unknown again just days after the Senate coup.

What we found: PressOne.PH monitored nearly 200 posts from 132 unique accounts across Facebook and TikTok in just two days.

  • The false narrative first surfaced on May 20, when a certain Shin Ferguson Fujiki shared on Facebook a paper he had submitted to the UNHRC.
  • Fujiki argued in his written statement that Duterte’s ICC detention was an attack orchestrated by the Marcos Jr. administration and it was part of a plan to eliminate the Duterte family before the 2028 national election. 
  • The statement was shared by known pro-Duterte vloggers and labeled the information as “breaking news” even though the report itself could not be found on UNHRC’s official website. 

What’s being posted: Most captions on the Facebook posts were lengthy, featured bold headlines, and simply copy-pasted with only a “CTTO” disclaimer in the end.

  • Attached with these captions were the copy of the statement of Fujiki, some infographics and AI-generated cards that had photos CD of Marcos Jr. and Fujiki.
  • Some of the AI-generated cards have a “breaking news” text on the top part, falsely implying that the information in the card was true, an example of what we call in PressOne.PH as news-cycle disinformation.
  • On Tiktok, users kept resharing the video of Jaylyn Charita, a pro-Duterte vlogger shown reading the “news” posted by a Facebook page called “News Ngayon.”

The supporters’ POV: Duterte supporters celebrated the false claim in their posts and comment sections, expressing satisfaction over what they believed to be Marcos Jr.’s downfall.

  • Supporters from TikTok said karma was “fast and approaching” Marcos Jr., emphasizing that his wrongdoings were coming to an end.

Reality check: On May 21, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the claims submitted to the United Nations were merely circulated through standard procedure and were not expected to result in any action.

The bottomline: The spread of this kind of narrative shows how pro-Duterte supporters weaponize disinformation to shift public perception in their favor. 

  • By recycling previously debunked claims and using false “breaking news” cards, they amplified misleading information at a crucial moment in ICC-related developments.