A reel posted on Facebook (FB) is claiming the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte. This is false.
Published on March 27, the 2-minute, 58-second clip bore the caption and a superimposed text on the video that reads:
“GOOD NEWS!!! IMPEACHMENT NI VP SARAH DU30 BINASURA NA NG SUPREME COURT.
(Good news!!! The Supreme Court has dismissed VP Sarah impeachment).”
“Magandang pa birthday Ito kay FPPRD Tapos na ang laban!!
(A great birthday gift for FPRRD! The battle is over!!)”
The inaccurate post, using partial footage from a Net25 program, discussed the dismissal of an impeachment case without identifying who was involved.
From the actual video of the TV report, one anchor revealed, starting at the 6:55 mark that it was about the March 24 ruling of South Korea’s Constitutional Court junking the impeachment of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his reinstatement as the country’s acting president.
Han assumed the position following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Seol over his declaration of martial law in December.
In the Philippines, only the Senate has “the sole power to try and decide” impeachment cases, not the Supreme Court, according to an impeachment primer released by the University of the Philippines College of Law.
Based on the proposed calendar of Duterte’s impeachment trial previously released by Senate President Chiz Escudero, the Senate will convene as an impeachment court on June 3, while the actual judicial proceeding may begin on July 30.
The spurious post emerged a day after Escudero rejected the motion of the House of Representatives prosecutors to issue summons for Duterte to respond to the articles of impeachment filed against her.
The false video, posted by Facebook page Duterte jr vlog (created on March 21, 2021), garnered 39,000 views, 1,700 reactions, 293 comments and 502 shares.
