The video shows the rally in Poland, not pro-Dutert protest in the Philippines

When the arrest of the former Filipino leader Rodrigo Duterte triggered protests in the Philippines, social media post shared a video that was incorrectly portrayed as one of the rallies of his supporters in Manila. Visual clues show that the clip was shot in Poland during a rally before a general election in 2023.

“Dutertes enthusiastic supporters in the streets of Manila,” says the simplified Chinese caption of a protest video that was uploaded to Douyin on March 14, 2025, has shared hundreds of times.

The clip repeats the same scene a few times with a voice-over in Mandarin who says: “It is such a tragic joke that a fighter was arrested by a so-called international court.

“As a constant member of the UN Security Council, China should take this opportunity to lower enemy forces that confuse the right and wrong.”

Duterte, the first Asian former head of state, which is charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is charged with the craft against humanity against humanity, which, according to right groups, have killed thousands (archived connection).

His term of office as president was characterized by a swing from the former colonial champion of the nation, the United States, in favor of China when he directed Rivalry with Beijing in the South China Sea dispute in court of Chinese companies (archived connection).

China warned the ICC after the arrest of the 79-year-old about the “politicization” and “double standards” (archived connection).

The video was also shared elsewhere on Douyin, Kuaishou and Wechat.

The followers of Duterte staged protests in the Philippines and abroad, including the ICC in the Hague, which demanded its release, but the clip actually shows a non -related rally in Warsaw, the Polish capital (archived links here, here and here).

In the first frames of the video you can see a deep advertising on T-Mobile Poland (archived connection).

Google Street View pictures in August 2021 on the al. Jana Pawła Street in Warsaw shows several buildings and a bus stop in the wrong video (archived link).

In the 10-second mark of the video, a flag with a red heart logo can also be seen, the same form of the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's shirt on October 1, 2023, before he was the leader of the opposition.

Around one million people gathered at the rally in Warsaw to protest the conservative government of Poland that day (archived connection).

A white banner with the inscription “Idzie Targowica” – what “traitor from Targowica marching” in Polish – can be seen in the video in the same time.

Polish online media Niezalezna.pl published a picture that shows the same banner in a report on the rally and said it belongs to a group of counter-protesters (archived link).

A Polish-speaking AFP journalist confirmed to hear in the clip: “This is a historical moment that will decide on the future of Poland, the future of our children” and the crowds that “fame for them”.

AFP exposed other false claims related to Duterte's arrest.