A Facebook post claims that House prosecutor Terry Ridon said he would leave the country if Vice President Sara Duterte becomes president because he does not like her. This is fake.
Published on July 5, the post contains a photo of Ridon and this fake quote attributed to him:
“Kung darating ang panahon na maupong presidente si Sara Duterte, hindi ko matatanggap yan, aalis ako sa ating bansa dahil ayaw ko sa kanya
(Should the day come that Sara Duterte assumes the presidency, I would not be able to accept it. I will leave the Philippines because of my sheer dislike for her).”
The post also carried a caption meant to mock the House prosecutor’s alleged remark:
“wag po need ka pa nmin (Please don’t, we still need you).”
VERA Files Fact Check contacted the House prosecutor to verify the claim online. Ridon dismissed the post as fake news. He also released a graphic on his official FB account, debunking the circulating post as completely fabricated.
Ridon’s photo used in the post was from the House Committee on Justice hearings in early March when it started deliberating on the impeachment complaints against the vice president to determine whether the charges were sufficient in substance.
Another post with the same graphic was published on X (formerly Twitter) and was paired with a caption speculating that Ridon’s supposed departure is an excuse to evade future lawsuits once Duterte takes office, insinuating that he received cash in suitcases.
The same fake quote was also attributed to former Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco Jose “Bingo” Matugas one week after the posting of the fabricated Ridon graphic. The repetition of the exact phrasing indicates that the quote card is a recycled piece of disinformation being used to target multiple political figures.
The fake post surfaced just before the historic Senate impeachment trial against VP Sara Duterte, which officially began on July 6.
Posted by a Facebook user, the post has so far garnered 1,959 reactions, 2,600 comments, and 56 shares.
