After Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and sent to the Netherlands to face a crimes against humanity charge, a screenshot of a TV report surfaced alongside the anchor’s purported remarks defending the former president. But veteran broadcaster Noli De Castro, who branded the claims “fake”, issued no such comments in the original news segment.
“Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte/Father Digong did not start the war to kill, he started it to save,” reads part of a lengthy March 15, 2025 Facebook post with more than 24,000 shares.
It ascribes the quote to De Castro, a longtime anchor at Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN and a former vice president of the country. The post includes a screenshot of De Castro during his nightly programme TV Patrol (archived link).
“Duterte is gone, and the drug problem is coming back. Crime is rising again. Ask yourself was he really the problem, or was he the only one brave enough to fix it?” the post goes on to say, before ending with a call to bring the 79-year-old former leader home.
Similar Facebook posts surfaced after Duterte’s stunning arrest and swift transfer to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to face charges linked to his anti-narcotics campaign (archived link).
Rights activists say tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed in his government’s crackdown, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
“Very well said, Kabayan Noli De Castro,” read a comment in one of the circulating posts, using De Castro’s nickname and indicating the user believed the remarks were his.
“You’re right, sir Noli De Castro. He really is like a father to us. He’s old, he doesn’t deserve this type of stress anymore,” another wrote.
But the veteran broadcaster never made the supposed statement.
ABS-CBN shared a post from De Castro’s Instagram account on March 17, where he shared screenshots of the posts stamped with text that said “FAKE” (archived links here and here).
Read the full story on AFP Fact Check.