FACT CHECK: No UN arrest warrant for Marcos

Claim: The United Nations (UN) has issued an arrest warrant for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: A YouTube video uploaded on May 25 by the channel “NEWS UPDATE FILES” bore the title “Marcos Jr., kinarma na! United Nations, nagdesisyon na! U.N president, nilabas ang arrest warrant ni BBM.” 

(Karma came for Marcos Jr! The United Nations has decided! The UN president released the arrest warrant for [Bongbong Marcos].)

The thumbnail shows UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointing at what appears to be an arrest warrant with Marcos’ photo. Text superimposed on the graphic reads, “U.N president, nilabas ang arrest warrant!” (The UN president released the arrest warrant!) and “Wala na! Finish na! United Nations, a-arestohin na si BBM!” (It’s over! Finished! United Nations will arrest BBM!)

As of writing, the video has garnered over 49,172 views and 5,500 likes.

The facts: No arrest warrant has been issued by the United Nations against Marcos. The UN is not a judicial body and does not issue arrest warrants or prosecute heads of state.

The claim appears to stem from political commentary featured in the video by YouTube channel The General’s Viewpoint, which discussed a statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council by Fujiki Shunichi of the International Career Support Association (ICSA), a Japanese non-government organization. 

The group alleged that the transfer of former president Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity charges was politically motivated and intended to weaken the Duterte camp ahead of the 2028 elections.

The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however, has dismissed the group’s submission, saying it expects the council not to act on the statement. 

“The United Nations routinely receives such statements and circulates these as a matter of procedure, without comments or any other actions,” the DFA said.

It added, “On the statement itself, we anticipate that no action will be taken on it by the Human Rights Council (HRC) or the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This is not the first time the International Career Support Association (ICSA) has brought these baseless claims before the United Nations. None of its previous actions have borne any fruit.”

Fujiki’s credibility has been questioned by human rights activist and former journalist Carlos Conde, who said Fujiki is not a human rights researcher and has a history of denying wartime atrocities.

No arrest warrant for Marcos: Arrest warrants for crimes against humanity are issued by the ICC, an independent court based in The Hague that operates separately from the United Nations.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants related to the Philippines’ drug war, but these have been for Duterte and Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, not Marcos.

Duterte, who was arrested in March 2025, is set to undergo trial after the ICC confirmed all criminal charges against him.

Over a year since Duterte’s arrest,  the ICC publicly released an arrest warrant for Dela Rosa, who served as the police chief during Duterte’s drug war.

Authorities are currently searching for Dela Rosa, who is evading the warrant after fleeing the Senate on May 14. (READ: Marcos gov’t is now willing to arrest Bato dela Rosa. What happens next?) – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com

Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 

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