FACT CHECK: Baste Duterte did not ask China to evacuate OFWs in the Middle East

2026-03-16 - 04:14

Claim: Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte sought assistance from China to help evacuate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in the Middle East. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 584,300 views, 67,300 likes, 3,362 comments, and 5,279 shares as of this posting. Text overlaid on the video reads: “Baste Duterte, humingi ng tulong sa China para sa paglikas ng mga Pinoy sa Middle East. Thank you, Mayor Baste. Hindi man nila binalita, lamang pa rin ang Pilipinong may alam.” (Baste Duterte asked China to help evacuate Filipinos in the Middle East. Thank you, Mayor Baste. Even if the news didn’t report it, Filipinos who know the truth still know better.) The caption in