A quote card attributed to Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano claims that he said Vice President Sara Duterte herself, instead of her employees, should appear in person before the Senate impeachment court. This is fake.
Since Sept. 3, several Facebook pages and users have shared two social media cards featuring a photo of Cayetano from the trial and the supposed statement:
“Kung ako ang tatanungin, ito ay sariling opinyon ko lamang, sa palagay ko, dapat na si VP Sara ang mismong humarap dito sa atin sa Senado. Ginagawa tayong t*nga ng mga empleyado niya eh
(If you ask me, and this is just my personal opinion, I think VP Sara herself should face us in the Senate. Her employees are treating us like fools).”
This is fabricated. Cayetano did not make such a remark and the graphic came from a bogus FB page that imitated a news organization.
There are no records or reports of the senator-judge making such a statement.
On Sept. 6, the FB page of Cayetano’s office released an advisory disowning the quote and emphasizing that he “remains impartial and neutral” as a senator-judge.
The first version of the fake quote card carried the logo of PH Daily Inquiry, a FB page that imitates the media organization Philippine Daily Inquirer. The graphic carried a disclaimer stating that it was “not authentic,” but it has been omitted in subsequent copies shared online.
The PH Daily Inquiry‘s FB page is unavailable as of Sept. 7, but some Filipino celebrities have previously called them out for posting fake statements.
Another version of the graphic bearing the same fake quote has since been shared.
The fake quote circulated a day after the Sept. 2 impeachment trial where Michael Poa, Duterte’s former chief of staff and spokesperson in the Department of Education was presented as a hostile witness of the prosecution. Duterte has yet to physically appear in the impeachment trial.
Cayetano has an ongoing public feud with Sen. Ping Lacson as the latter alleges that there are corruption issues, budget insertions, and questionable infrastructure projects in Cayetano’s bailiwick, Taguig City.
The National Bureau of Investigation has also launched a probe into the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee headed by Cayetano in 2019, which includes the alleged irregularities in the “golden cauldron” used in the 2019 SEA Games.
VERA Files has debunked other disinformation related to Cayetano.
Thirteen posts, mostly by FB users, carrying the fabricated statement collectively garnered 9,181 reactions; 3,949 comments; and 513 shares.
