A YouTube video remarked that the House of Representatives has cited former president Rodrigo Duterte in contempt. This is false.
Duterte was not cited in contempt by a House committee investigating the alleged human rights abuses associated with his administration’s war on drugs.
The former president failed to attend the Oct. 22 hearing, but may show up in the next hearings, according to his lawyer Martin Delgra. The House quad committee is considering issuing a show cause order or subpoena if he continues to skip the hearings.
Uploaded on Oct. 21, the same day that the House announced they would invite Duterte as a resource person, the erroneous video’s thumbnail bore the text:
“CONTEMPT SI DU30? DIOSKO PO! LAHAT NABIGLA SA BALITANG ITO. DELEKADO NA ITO! PROTECT FPRRD (Duterte was cited in contempt? Oh god! Everyone was shocked with this news! This is dangerous! Protect FPRRD).”
Its headline read: “BREAKING NEWS! Delekad0 to! Grabe ang Genawa nila kay FPDUTERTE? Diosk0 Dapat tong Malaman ng Lahat (This is dangerous! They did something harsh to former president Duterte? Oh God, everyone must know about this)!”
The House quad committee, which is currently probing the alleged human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings associated with Duterte’s drug war, has not cited the former chief executive in contempt nor did it have him arrested.
The quad committee invited Duterte to its Oct. 22 hearing, which the ex-president did not attend because “he is currently not feeling well and is in need of much rest,” according to Delgra in a letter to Congress.
In that same letter, Duterte’s lawyer said that the former president is willing to appear before the House, sometime after Nov. 1.
Quad committee co-chair Rep. Benny Abante said in an interview that they will consider issuing a show-cause order and a subpoena if Duterte continues to skip its hearings without providing a medical certificate.
The House had invited Duterte to attend its committee hearings on extrajudicial killings in June and August but he also skipped both.
The video did not show proof to support its claim but only featured previously fact-checked vloggers criticizing lawmakers for inviting Duterte in the House probe.
Uploaded by YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER, the video has received 110,102 views.
