A YouTube video claims that Vice President Sara Duterte declared a coup d’etat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following her resignation as a cabinet member. This is false.
Duterte announced last June 19 that she will be stepping down as education secretary and vice chairperson of the government’s anti-communist task force effective July 19 but gave no reason for quitting. She has not made any statement on her political plans.
Uploaded the same day Duterte resigned, the video’s thumbnail bore this text:
“NAG-RESIGN NA! KUDETA NA VPSARA NAG DEKLARA NA! ITO DAHILAN UNITEAM WINASAK NA (Resigned already! Coup d’etat now, VP Sara declared! This is the reason why UniTeam was destroyed)!”
Its headline also read: “KAKAPASOK LANG Nabunyag na! NagkaguL0 na Kumpirmado VPSARA nag RESIGN na Nagdeklara PBBM LIZA TAMBA (Just in, exposed already! Chaos, confirmed now VP Sara resigned, already declared. PBBM Liza Tamba).
The vice president has not called for a military uprising against Marcos in either her resignation letter nor in a speech she delivered that day. She only said that she is stepping down “not because of weakness but because of true concern for teachers and the youth.”
Duterte’s resignation came amid the collapse of the UniTeam alliance which propelled her and Marcos to victory in the 2022 elections. Asked about the status of the alliance on June 12, or a week before she announced her resignation, she said it was only good for the polls:
“The UniTeam was a tandem during the 2022 elections. The elections are over, we won and we are grateful to those who supported us.”
Source: ANC 24/7 YouTube channel, “VP Duterte: UniTeam only good for 2022 elections,” June 13, 2024 (from 0:16 to 0:40)
The vice president’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte previously accused Marcos of being a drug addict and called on the police and military to intervene should the president abuse charter change proposals to extend his term.
The erroneous video provided no proof to support its claim but only played a clip of Duterte’s resignation speech.
Uploaded by YouTube channels PINAS NEWS INSIDER and AI TOO KAYE, the video has drawn over 120,000 interactions. Facebook users also reposted the link.
