A Facebook post claims that Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian released a statement saying that he is not thinking about replacing Vice President Sara Duterte and that the decision is completely up to President Ferdinand Marcos. This is fake.
The post published on Sept. 21 contains a graphic card with a photo of Marcos and the fake quote attributed to the Senate President, which is also found in this caption:
“”SA NGAYON DI KO PA INIISIP NA, AKO ANG PAPALIT KAY VP SARA KAPAG SIYA AY MA-IMPEACH, NAKA DEPENDE PO TALAGA YAN KAY PBBM.
(“For now, I am not thinking about being the one to replace VP Sara if she gets impeached. That really depends on PBBM).”
Part of the post’s caption reads:
Nilinaw ni Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian na hindi pa niya iniisip ang posibilidad na siya ang hiranging kapalit ni Vice President Sara Duterte kung sakaling ma-impeach ito.
Ayon kay Gatchalian, na ngayon ay Acting Senate President at siyang mamumuno sa impeachment trial ni VP Sara, nasa kamay ng Pangulo ang pagpili ng kapalit.
(Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian clarified that he is not yet considering the possibility of being chosen as the replacement for Vice President Sara Duterte if she were to be impeached.
According to Gatchalian, who is currently Acting Senate President and who oversees VP Sara’s impeachment trial, the choice of her replacement is in the hands of the President.).”
At no time did Gatchalian make any statement about the possibility of taking over the vice presidential post. No credible news report, official statement, or available transcript of any news conference by the Senate leader contains the purported quote. The latest statement by Gatchalian in relation to the VP referred to the impeachment trial and its procedures.
In 2022, however, Gatchalian said that he considered seeking the vice presidency but only as running mate to then Davao City Mayor Duterte. He added that if Duterte did not choose him as her running mate, he would not seek the post. Sara Duterte teamed up with Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in the last national election but their alliance has collapsed.
If Duterte is convicted and removed from office through impeachment, the vacancy will be filled under Article VII, Section 9 of the 1987 Constitution.
The president will nominate a replacement from among the sitting members of the Senate or House of Representatives, who must then receive a majority vote from all members of both chambers, voting separately.
The fake posts surfaced after the impeachment trial session on Sept. 21, when Gatchalian cited records showing the vice president as a board member and member of the compensation committee of Metro City Chow Foods Corp. in 2024 and 2025.
Posted by a Facebook page with 27,000 followers, the posts have so far garnered 52,143 reactions, 9,217 comments, and 867 shares.
