FACT CHECK: No program by Elon Musk to create ‘50 million Duterte clones’

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The post came from a satire account, but has been mistaken by some Filipinos as true — despite no scientific evidence that human cloning has been successfully done

Claim: Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has launched a program to flood the Philippines with 50 million clones of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to achieve the so-called “Singapore Dream” vision of prosperity.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 18,100 views, 1,362 likes, 102 shares, and 497 comments as of writing.

Text in the video states: “Elon Musk unveils program to populate Philippines with 50 million [Rodrigo] Duterte clones to turn ‘Singapore dream’ into reality.”

The facts: There is no official statement or credible report from Musk or any of his companies that suggests any plan to clone Duterte or any human being. No legitimate news source or scientific body has reported such an initiative. 

The TikTok post was made by Balat Sibuyas, a social media page known for posting satire and humor content. Its bio says, “Balitang hindi totoo pero dapat siniseryoso” (News that isn’t true but should be taken seriously.)

The misleading post itself, however, is not clearly labeled as satire and even includes the text “Mga balitang dapat siniseryoso (News that should be taken seriously).”

Many comments on the post also show that some social media users believe the claim is true, with top comments saying, “Napakabuti kasi ng ating former president” (It’s because our former president is very kind) and “Thank you so much, Elon Musk for helping [out] the best president of the Philippines.” (READ: SATIRE VS FAKE NEWS: Can you tell the difference?)

False details: Scientifically, human cloning remains unachievable. While animals like Dolly the sheep have been cloned, cloning humans involves far more complex biological processes that science has yet to overcome. On top of that, cloning humans is illegal or strictly regulated in most countries due to serious ethical and legal concerns.

Even if human cloning were possible, Musk has no connection to that field. Tesla works on electric cars, SpaceX on rockets, and Neuralink on brain-computer interfaces to help people with neurological conditions. None of these projects involves cloning.

ICC detention: Duterte is currently detained at the ICC detention center in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity over drug war killings which began during his tenure as Davao City mayor and under his presidency. A confirmation of charges hearing is scheduled on September 23 to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed with a full trial.

Despite his detention, Duterte won as mayor of Davao City in the 2025 midterm elections with 662,630 votes — more than eight times the 80,852 votes received by his closest rival, Karlo Nograles. 

Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code disqualifies candidates only if they have been convicted by final judgment of crimes such as subversion, rebellion, or those involving moral turpitude, or sentenced to more than 18 months of imprisonment. Duterte was able to run and win as mayor as he had yet to be convicted of any crime.

However, he will not be able to fulfill his duties as mayor as long as he is detained. In this case, his son, Vice Mayor-elect Sebastian Duterte, will serve as mayor in an acting capacity, or a new “acting mayor” will manage Davao City’s affairs. (WATCH: Can Rodrigo Duterte work as mayor from The Hague?) – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is also a fact-checker and researcher-writer at Explained PH. A third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), she serves as the feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.

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