An untrue claim that the Supreme Court reversed its ruling on the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte is circulating on multiple platforms.
As of Aug. 15, the SC has yet to resolve the pending motions for reconsideration seeking to reverse the Court’s July 25 decision declaring the complaint against Duterte as unconstitutional.
A YouTube video uploaded on Aug. 10 carried a title that read:
“KAKAPASOK LANG! SUPREME COURT BINALIKTAD ANG DESISYON,VP SARAH DUTERTE NAIYAK TULOY ANG IMPEACHMENT” (Just in! Supreme Court reversed its decision, VP Sara Duterte cried as impeachment proceeds)
A day later, the website newspro.celebtoday24h.com published an article headlined:
“JUST IN! Supreme Court OVERTURNS Ruling — VP Sara Duterte in TEARS as Impeachment Drama Takes a Shocking Turn!”
And on Aug. 12, a Facebook page with 1.6 million followers shared the erroneous article and the YouTube video’s thumbnail, which bore the text:
“KAKAPASOK LANG! VP SARAH DUTERTE NAIYAK DI MAKAPANIWALA SA BIGLAANG PASYA NG KORTE (Just in! VP Sara Duterte cried, she can’t believe the Court’s sudden decision) SC REVERSE DECISION”
A simple search on the Decision and Signed Resolutions section of the SC’s official website showed that the latest ruling related to Duterte’s case — Case No. 278353/278359 — was the one promulgated on July 25 that nullified the Articles of Impeachment against her.
The SC has also made no announcements on its official social media channels or website supposedly overturning the ruling.
The Court ruled that the complaint violated the one-year rule which states that no impeachment proceedings may be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year. This was the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte.
Fabrications in report, clickbait YouTube content
The newspro.celebtoday24h.com report contained several fabrications, including references to non-existent personalities. It reported the reactions of a Senator Miguel Ramos, described as a “known Duterte ally”, and an “opposition lawmaker” named Rep. Liza Montenegro. Neither of them is a member of the 20th Congress.
The YouTube video’s headline was clickbait. The video merely featured the Aug. 7 press conference where House Deputy Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong and House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson Joel Chua discussed the Senate’s move to archive the impeachment case against the vice president.
No one mentioned the alleged overturning of the High Court’s decision, instead they urged the Senate to retrieve the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte and reconvene as an impeachment court should the SC reverse its ruling.
The false FB post emerged a day after religious groups, lawyers and other individuals filed the fifth motion for reconsideration, asking the SC to reverse its decision on Duterte’s impeachment.
The SC has already ordered the vice president and other petitioners to comment on the House of Representatives’ Aug. 5 appeal.
The inaccurate post, published by FB page Magsasaka Mabuhay Ka (created on July 18, 2017), has so far received 998 interactions. Meanwhile, the clickbait video, posted by YouTube channel TATAK TRENDING PH (created on Nov. 13, 2014), has since garnered 69,329 views, 2,700 likes, and 471 comments.
