A fabricated quote card on TikTok, viewed over 230,000 times, attributes to an ICC judge a statement authorizing former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's release in 2026, citing a signature campaign. Fact-checks confirm it is fake; Duterte remains detained in The Hague after losing his November 2025 appeal for interim release.
The TikTok video features a quote card attributed to “Judge Whitney Solomy Balungi Tyson Bossa,” reading: “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.”
Rappler's fact-check and Vera Files confirm the quote is fabricated. No such ICC announcement exists on its website. The name alters that of real ICC judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, who is not on Pre-Trial Chamber I for Duterte's case and issued no such statement. The image is a deepfake merging photos of Bossa and 1990s comedian Whitney Tyson.
This misinformation emerges amid ongoing developments in Duterte's ICC case, including recent defense motions for release over health concerns. Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity tied to his drug war and has been detained at Scheveningen since his March 2025 arrest. The confirmation of charges hearing is delayed over fitness-to-stand-trial claims.
Separately, on January 16, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor renewed calls for witnesses via a microsite launched in 2024, seeking testimonies on drug war killings, torture, and sexual violence from November 2011 to March 2019, including from Philippine National Police.
