A YouTube video is claiming that Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has been removed from the Senate. This is not true. Estrada remains in office and there has been no such move to expel him from the upper house.
Uploaded on May 12, the video bore the following text on its thumbnail:
“TANGGAL SA PWESTO. MARCOLETA WINASAK SI SEN JINGGOY IYAK. RESIGN NOW! TRYDOR SA SENADO.
(Removed from office. Marcoleta destroyed Sen. Jinggoy cried. Resign now! Traitor in the Senate).”
Its headline also read: “KAKAPASOK LANG Walang Nagawa si Jinggoy Estrada sa Matinding Ut0s ni Cong.Marcoleta at Sen Bato (Just in. Jinggoy Estrada was unable to do anything on the harsh order of Cong. Marcoleta and Sen. Bato)!”
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has not filed any motion to expel Estrada from the Senate. He also cannot order the removal of a senator without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the Senate.
Meanwhile, SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta has no power to initiate the expulsion of any senator as he belongs to the House of Representatives – a separate house of Congress.
The video merely played a clip of Marcoleta criticizing Estrada for questioning the credibility of ex-Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agent Jonathan Morales who testified during a Senate inquiry led by dela Rosa.
On May 7, Estrada called Morales a “polluted source” and accused him of lying about the authenticity of an alleged PDEA document linking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to illegal drugs.
Estrada again cast doubts on Morales’ credibility last May 13 given that the latter is facing various cases. Morales replied by saying that unlike Estrada, he has not been convicted of any wrongdoing.
In January, the Sandiganbayan ruled that Estrada was guilty of direct bribery and two counts of indirect bribery for the P10 billion pork barrel scam involving businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.
Uploaded by YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER, the erroneous video has received a total of 169,178 interactions. Facebook users also reposted the link.
