“This historic moment underscores that no one, not even a former head of state, is above the rule of law”
FORMER President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11, 2025, after returning from Hong Kong. He was then flown to The Hague, Netherlands, to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
This historic moment underscores that no one, not even a former head of state, is above the rule of law.
The Movement Against Disinformation (MAD), which I serve as founding president, stands with the victims of Duterte’s drug war, who have been demonized, dehumanized, and silenced by a campaign of fear and falsehoods. Disinformation played an important role in justifying these atrocities.
To justify extrajudicial killings, the state fabricated evidence using tanim droga schemes, staged frame-ups, and weaponized the word nanlaban.
But the truth is undeniable, MAD asserts. Official records show that over 6,000 people have died in anti-drug operations, but human rights groups estimate that the figure is closer to 30,000, with the poor accounting for the vast majority.
In our view, and as I have written before, Tthe legality of the ICC’s actions is firmly grounded in the Rome Statute, established principles of international law, and yes in domestic law.
Still the disinformation continues which we must contest on the streets and in airwaves, in rallies here and abroad, and in our computers and phone screens.
These past days, to counter disinformaton, I have made the following ten points in several media interviews:
(1) The spread of disinformation is not spontaneous; it is planned, organized, directed by a network of individuals and groups.
(2) We have to find the roots of the tentacles of disinformation, among public relations agencies and practicioners among others, and shut these down. There is quite a lot of research on that done by eminent scholars like Jonathan Ong.
(3) Follow the money, expose them, and prosecute them because the money is likely from illegitimate, even criminal sources and from foreign interests/countries.
(4) Right now, on the ground and overseas, the disinformation campaign has the upper hand and we must reverse this. MAD will be scaling up our efforts on this with a sense of urgency.
(5) The disinformation will not likely help Duterte in The Hague and could even backfire, but it could have unimaginable electoral consequences in 2025 and especially in 2028.
(6) We have enough laws to go after both the tentacles, roots, and money behind disinformation and there is generally no need for new laws and especially those which would stifle free speech and expression.
(7) We do have one big gap and that is holding the social media platforms – big tech – more accountable for the disinformation they are enabling. We have some remedies and MAD has used some of that but we need more effective ones.
(8) Freedom of speech and expression can be restricted only when there is a clear and present danger of a serious harm that can be inflicted on society, for example by redtagging people and organizations, or by a v/blogger that has hundreds of thousands, even millions, of followers that he/she/they can mobilize or incite to act violently. But clear and present danger must be strictly and narrowly construed.
(9) The peddlers of disinformation (the right term because this is about money and not beliefs or love of country) are not protected by freedom of the press guarantees because they are not journalists; conversely, journalists would have protections in addition to free speech and expression for what they write about or broadcast to the public, even when their reports are inaccurate or their views problematic.
Disinformation is a plague on society and needs an all of nation approach. It is like what happened to Duterte – he is in The Hague not just because of BBM, but because of the many actions people took since 2016 to hold him accountable.
To borrow a phrase from Maria Ressa, it took a thousand cuts to bring Duterte to justice. It will take a thousand cuts to defeat disinformation.
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