FACT CHECK: VP Sara not preparing for father’s ‘homecoming’ in April, contrary to claim

Claim: Vice President Sara Duterte is preparing the necessary documents to facilitate former president Rodrigo Duterte’s return to the Philippines in April 2026.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 1.8 million views, 57,800 likes, 2,223 comments, and 1,090 shares as of writing.

Text in the video states: “Rodrigo Duterte pauwi na sa Pilipinas ngayong April 1, 2026.”

(Rodrigo Duterte is returning to the Philippines this April 1, 2026.)

The caption in the post states: “Ayon kay VP Sara Duterte ay naghahanda na sila ng mga papeles upang maproseso ang pag-uwi ng dating pangulo sa darating na April 1, 2026. Alam rin daw ni Rody Duterte na makakauwi na sya dahil naipamalita na ito ng kanyang mga anak, kaya naman lubos ang kasiyahan ng dating pangulo dahil pagkatapos ng isang taon ay makakabalik na sya sa Pilipinas.”

(According to Vice President Sara Duterte, they are already preparing the necessary documents to process the former president’s return on April 1, 2026. She said that Rody Duterte is also aware that he will be going home, as his children have already shared the news with him. The former president is reportedly very happy, knowing that after a year, he will finally be able to return to the Philippines.)

The claim circulated following the conclusion of the four-day confirmation of charges hearing in Duterte’s crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which ended on February 27 at the ICC headquarters in The Hague.

The facts: Contrary to the claim, the Vice President is not preparing any documents for her father’s return. There are no reports from her office or from credible news outlets to substantiate the claim.

On February 25, the Vice President said the family no longer expects her father to return to the Philippines as he remains detained in The Hague, Netherlands, while awaiting proceedings at the ICC.

“We are no longer looking at the chances of [the former president] coming home. We’re no longer talking about that,” Duterte said in an interview in Iligan City, as reported by The Philippine Star.

She cited her father’s statement before the ICC, where he acknowledged the possibility that he could die in detention. 

ICC detention: Duterte remains detained at the ICC facility in The Hague, Netherlands. A review of the ICC’s official website shows no published decision granting his release or permitting his return to the Philippines.

The recently concluded confirmation of charges hearing, held from February 23 to 27, was a procedural step to determine whether the case should proceed to trial. Following the hearing, ICC judges began deliberations and are expected to issue a written decision within 60 days under Regulation 53 of the Court’s rules.

The judges may confirm the charges and proceed to a trial, which could lead to Duterte’s conviction or acquittal.

If the judges find that the evidence is insufficient, the proceedings against Duterte would cease. However, the Office of the Prosecutor can still request a new confirmation of charges if additional evidence is later submitted. 

AI-generated: Analysis of the image using the AI detection tool Sight Engine shows a 98% probability that it is AI-generated, indicating it was most likely created using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). The breakdown attributes 86% likelihood to the use of GPT-based diffusion models, with smaller probabilities linked to other AI generators such as Wan, Stable Diffusion, Seedream, Recraft, Imagen/Nano Banana, and DALL·E (1%).

Hive Moderation similarly flagged the image as 99.4% likely AI-generated, identifying gptimage1_5 as the primary source. Analysis using AI Image Detector further confirmed this, showing a 99.93% probability that the image was created by artificial intelligence.

The claim relies solely on a news graphic, which is fake and provides no evidence to support its assertion. – 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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