Vice President Sara Duterte has debunked a viral photo circulating on social media claiming to show former President Rodrigo Duterte bedridden in a hospital, calling it fake and manipulated.
“That photo is not true; it’s edited,” Duterte said in Filipino, explaining that the image featured a different patient with her father’s face digitally altered. “They just changed the face of former President Duterte.”
Amid growing public curiosity, the Vice President clarified that her father is not confined to the detention unit of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he is currently being held, but is instead staying in its regular wing. She emphasized that he remains physically capable, even walking with a cane earlier that day.
“He wasn’t sick. He was walking on his own,” she said.
Sara Duterte admitted, however, that the former president has lost a significant amount of weight. “I’ve never seen him this thin except in an old photo of him when he was young,” she noted. But she assured the public that despite the weight loss, her father’s health and appearance remained strong.
“His face didn’t sag. Unlike all of us whose faces are sagging,” she quipped, adding that she even told her mother that perhaps her father is “glowing” because of his inner peace or due to managing his diabetes.
She also said that the public could request the ICC, through Duterte’s legal counsel, to issue a health bulletin or release an official photo to put rumors to rest.
Former President Duterte was arrested in March at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and transferred to The Hague to face charges before the ICC over alleged crimes against humanity tied to his bloody anti-drug campaign. His confirmation of charges hearing is tentatively scheduled for September 23, 2025.
While government records place the number of deaths from Duterte’s war on drugs at around 6,000, independent estimates from human rights groups and ICC prosecutors suggest the toll could be as high as 30,000, many of which are believed to be extrajudicial killings.
