FACT CHECK: No case filed by Supreme Court against Marcos, Torre over Duterte arrest

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The video provides no evidence for its claim. Furthermore, as a sitting president, Marcos is immune from civil and criminal cases during his term.

Claim: The Supreme Court (SC) will file a case against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) chief Major General Nicolas Torre III for the unlawful arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube channel “Boses ng Masa,” with 107,000 subscribers, posted the video bearing the claim on March 19. As of writing, the video has garnered 8,408 views and 620 likes. 

The video is titled: “Karma! Torre at PBBM pananagutin sa Korte Suprema dahil sa iligal na pag-aresto kay FPRRD!”

(Karma! Torre and [President Bongbong Marcos] will be held accountable by the Supreme Court for the illegal arrest of [former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte]!)

According to the video’s narrator, the SC declared that it would file a case against Marcos and Torre over Duterte’s arrest on March 11 and that there was sufficient basis for holding the two accountable for allegedly violating Duterte’s rights.

The former president faces charges of crimes against humanity linked to his administration’s bloody drug war and is now under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The 30-minute video also included an audio clip that asserted the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction over the Philippines.

The facts: There are no credible and official reports indicating that the SC will file a case against Marcos or Torre. A sitting president also enjoys immunity from legal suits.

Furthermore, the SC does not file charges but only hears cases directly brought to the court in the first instance or rules on judgments and orders of lower courts. 

The High Court is currently deliberating petitions questioning Duterte’s arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition to challenge the legality of the former president’s arrest and the ICC’s authority. In the petition, Dela Rosa asked the SC to declare the Philippine government’s cooperation with the ICC unconstitutional and requested the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO). 

The SC denied the TRO but still ordered dela Rosa and the Philippine government to comment on the petition within 10 days.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s children — Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Veronica “Kitty” Duterte, and Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte — also filed separate petitions for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking to compel the government to return their father to the Philippines. In its response, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued for the dismissal of the petitions as the case is now moot, with the former president already being outside Philippine jurisdiction. The DOJ also asserted that the arrest complied with the law and international obligations. 

Duterte’s arrest: Contrary to the claim, although the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the court still has jurisdiction over Duterte’s alleged crimes because they occurred before the country withdrew from the international tribunal in 2019. (READ: [The Slingshot] The persistent lie that ICC has no jurisdiction).

Commenting on Duterte’s arrest, Marcos earlier said that the government was just “doing its job” as part of its commitment to Interpol. Legal experts also said that the arrest followed normal procedures.

Repurposed clip: The misleading video provides no evidence for its claim, merely using a video clip from the Facebook page of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, a known Duterte ally, which was posted on March 11.

The video clip criticized Duterte’s arrest and the Marcos administration and called on the public to gather at EDSA to rally behind the former president.

Debunked: Rappler has previously published a fact-check debunking a false claim about Marcos’ alleged arrest posted by the same YouTube channel, “Boses ng Masa.”

The SC, together with the ICC, have been targeted by disinformation attacks since Duterte’s arrest: 

• FACT CHECK: No Marcos resignation petition received, online posts are fake – SC
• FACT CHECK: ICC prosecutor did not say Duterte is innocent
• FACT CHECK: US gov’t sanctions on ICC not a response to Duterte arrest

– Lyndee Buenagua/Rappler.com

Lyndee Buenagua is a third year student journalist based in Baguio and an alumna of Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024.

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