A YouTube video claims that representatives Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Dan Fernandez have been removed as co-chairpersons of the House of Representatives quad committee, and as members of the lower house altogether. This is false.
The two congressmen remain in their respective committee posts and continue to be co-chairpersons of the Quad Committee, which is currently conducting an investigation into the alleged human rights abuses committed in the course of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.
Uploaded on Oct. 31, the video’s headline read:
“BREAKING NEWS! Yare na! Fernandez at Abante PENATALSEK na sa QUADCOM? KERNEL FPRRD BARBERS Kumanta? (It’s over for them! Fernandez and Abante ousted from the Quad Comm? Kernel, FPRRD, Barbers exposed them).”
Its thumbnail bore photos of Abante and Fernandez, along with a text that read: “TANGGAL NA SA KAMARA! ITO ANG MATINDING UTOS SA KONGRESO (Removed from Congress. This is the harsh order to Congress)!”
There has been no motion to expel the two lawmakers from the House nor to remove Manila 6th district Rep. Abante as chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, and Santa Rosa City Rep. Fernandez as chairperson of the House Committee on Public Order and Safety.
Under the 1987 Constitution, incumbent lawmakers could only be removed from the House after a two-thirds vote from their fellow congressmen. No such proceedings have been initiated against Abante and Fernandez.
The erroneous video emerged after former Mandaluyong City Police chief Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo claimed that Abante and Fernandez pressured him to confirm that there was a reward system during ex-president Duterte’s drug war, which incentivized cops to kill drug suspects. Abante and Fernandez have both denied the accusations.
The video, which was merely clickbait, did not offer any proof to support its claim. It only showed a vlogger criticizing Abante and Fernandez for their investigation into Duterte’s drug war.
Uploaded by previously fact-checked YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER, the video received 299,465 interactions.
