FACT CHECK: Photo of Kitty Duterte ‘in tears’ due to father’s health is altered

Claim: Veronica “Kitty” Duterte cried after a visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) because her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, no longer recognizes her.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The January 8 post created by user “pinoy_headlines” has already reached 5.2 million views, 136,700 likes, and 4,785 comments as of writing. The post drew emotional reactions from users in the comments section.

Text overlaid on the graphic reads, “Anak ng dating Pangulong Duterte na si Kitty Duterte, umiyak ng lumabas sa ICC dahil hindi na umano nakakakilala ang kanilang ama.”

(Kitty Duterte, daughter of former president Duterte, cried when she left the ICC because her father allegedly no longer recognizes her.) 

The post included a photo of Kitty Duterte in tears, a “Breaking News” banner, and text claiming that she spoke about her father’s declining health.

The facts: While Kitty Duterte mentioned in November 2025 that her father’s health was allegedly declining, she did not say that he no longer recognizes her. 

In a recent visit to the former president earlier this January, Kitty said she was still able to speak with her father.

Altered photo: A reverse image search shows that the alleged photo of Kitty Duterte in tears is altered. The original photo, taken in March 2025 when she and her mother, Honeylet Avanceña, visited Duterte at the ICC detention center, shows the younger Duterte speaking with her hand on her chest and her eyes open. This is similar to images shown in a video from DZAR 1026 taken the same month. 

According to TruthScan, the image used in the viral post is likely AI-edited, with a probability of 97%.

Duterte’s case: Duterte was arrested in March 2025 and remains detained at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, facing charges of crimes against humanity over extrajudicial killings linked to his administration’s war on drugs. 

Since his arrest, claims about his health have circulated online, including claims that he was supposedly found unconscious in his room and that he supposedly fainted.

In a recent visit to her father, Vice President Sara Duterte said in a video released on January 23, 2026, that the former president was “okay” and “pleasant.”

Duterte’s legal team has submitted various appeals related to his detention and medical conditions, including a failed bid for an interim release. His lawyers have also claimed that the former president has a “deteriorating cognitive condition” that prevents him from “[recalling] events, places, timing or even members of his close family and Defense team.”

Medical experts, however, told the ICC that Duterte can undergo trial provided he is given certain accommodations like regular breaks and his preferred food.

On January 26, the ICC ruled that Duterte is fit to participate in pre-trial proceedings, with the confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for February 23, 2026. – Samantha Uy/Rappler.com

Samantha Ysabel Uy is a Rappler volunteer. She is a third-year Broadcast Media Arts and Studies student at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

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