FACT CHECK: ICC did not authorize Duterte’s release, quote card is fake

Claim: A judge from the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated that former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte will be released from ICC custody and is set to return to the Philippines in 2026.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 230,200 views, 12,700 likes, 1,081 comments, and 1,151 shares as of writing.

Text overlaid on the video reads: “Tatay Digong makakauwi ng Pilipinas ngayong taon ayon sa judge ng ICC?!”

(Father Digong to return to the Philippines this year, according to an ICC judge?!)

To support the claim, the video presents a quote card attributed to a supposed “Judge Whitney Solomy Balungi Tyson Bossa.” 

The quote reads: “I now authorize the International Trial Court to facilitate Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s return to the Philippines in 2026 as a statement of support for the calls embodied in the signature campaign of the people under the banner ‘Tay, kami naman (Dad, it’s our turn now).’ I hereby acknowledge the signatures and collective appeal of the Filipino people. As we enter the year 2026, amnesty is hereby granted to Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his cohorts. I also wish to extend my warmest greetings for a very happy New Year to all.”

The facts: The quote card is fake. There is no evidence that any ICC judge made such a statement or approved Duterte’s release and return to the Philippines. No announcement or ruling supporting the claim appears on the ICC’s official website.

The name cited in the viral quote card is misleading. While Solomy Balungi Bossa is an actual ICC judge, her name was altered in the fake quote card. She has not issued any statement about Duterte, and she is also not part of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I, which is handling Duterte’s case.

Vera Files reported that the image of the supposed ICC judge used in the quote card is likely a deepfake that combines photos of Bossa and a well-known comedian in the 90s, Whitney Tyson.

Still detained: There is no ICC announcement about Duterte’s supposed release. The former president remains detained in Scheveningen in The Hague, Netherlands, after losing his appeal for an interim release last November 2025.

Duterte was arrested in March 2025 on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his drug war. His confirmation of charges hearing has been delayed after his camp claimed the former president was not fit to stand trial. 

Calls for drug war witnesses: Meanwhile, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor renewed its call for witnesses to come forward in its investigation into Duterte’s bloody drug war. In a post published on January 16, the ICC promoted a microsite it launched in 2024 to collect testimonies and information from people with direct knowledge of alleged abuses committed during the war on drugs.

The Office of the Prosecutor is seeking accounts of killings, torture, and sexual violence allegedly committed between November 2011 and March 2019, a period covering Duterte’s time as Davao City mayor and the early years of his presidency. The ICC specifically urged members of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies to speak with investigators. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.

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