A viral quote card circulating on Facebook claims that Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III proposed holding Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial in private to avoid trouble. This is false.
It was then-Acting Senate President and Presiding Officer of the Impeachment Court Sherwin Gatchalian, not Sotto, who set the June 18 pre-trial conference. In a notice he signed on June 9, Gatchalian announced that this would not be open to media or the public for “the widest freedom and latitude.”
The claim originated from a Facebook post uploaded on the same day the pre-trial conference was convened. The graphic shows a photo of Sotto accompanied by a quote falsely attributed to him, stating:
“Dapat nating hindi isa publiko ang impeachmet (sic) kay sara duterte
Para maiwasan natin ang anumang kaguluhan.(We should not make the impeachment of Sara Duterte public to prevent any trouble.)”
The post further carries the caption:
“❗ BREAKING NEWS ❗
Sen Vicente Tito Sotto nais na hnd Isa PUBLIKO Ang Impeachment trial ni Vice President Sara Duterte para daw maiwasan Ang kaguluhan😱.
Sang ayon ba kayo sa sinabe n Tito Sotto ⁉️
(❗ BREAKING NEWS ❗
Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto wants the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte to be closed to the public, supposedly to prevent trouble 😱.
Do you agree with what Tito Sotto said ⁉️)”
The fabricated quote card was reposted by several FB users and pages, mostly in pro-Duterte groups, further amplifying the false claim and misleading netizens. Several users expressed outrage in the comments:
“E sa public Yan kasi binuto ng tao Bayan Yan. Mga gong gong talaga kayo. Pag Mali Yong gnagawa nyo Kayo ang e impeach nmin.
(It should be public because the people voted for that. You’re really fools. If you do something wrong, we will impeach you.)”
“Dyan kayo magkamali pag di live attack ang mga tao dyan sa sinado people power yan sotto.
(You’re making a mistake if it is not aired live. People will attack the Senate — it will be another people power, Sotto.)”
“Dapat live para mapanood ng buong mundo kng gaano karumi ang pulitika ng pilipinas.
(It should be live so the whole world can see how dirty Philippine politics is.)”
The claim circulated a day after Sotto was sworn in as the new Senate President Pro Tempore following the Senate leadership reorganization on June 17. There are no public records, official statements, or verified media reports confirming the claim.
The closed-door arrangement only applied to the June 18 pre-trial conference, which the Senate Impeachment Court ordered to allow both the prosecution and defense more flexibility in discussing procedural matters.
Published by FB page Bayan Sinilangan (created March 8, 2022), and several FB users, these posts have collectively garnered over 9,867, reactions; 2,620 comments; and 230 shares.
