A Facebook page and a YouTube channel are claiming that the Senate has “junked” the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte. This is not true.
After the hours-long debate during the Aug. 6 Senate session, 19 senators voted to archive the impeachment case against Duterte, following the immediately executory July 25 decision of the Supreme Court that declared the impeachment complaint unconstitutional.
First published by an FB page on Aug. 6, the post carried a caption that read:
“UPDATE|| Senado, ibinasura ang Articles of Impeachment laban kay VP Sara Duterte
Ibinasura ng Senado ang Articles of Impeachment laban kay Pangalawang Pangulo Sara Duterte sa botong 19 pabor, 4 tutol, at 1 abstain.
Sa ginanap na botohan ngayong araw, pinili ng mayorya ng mga senador na i-archive o itabi ang impeachment complaint—ibig sabihin, hindi na ito uusad pa sa susunod na mga pagdinig.
Hindi pa inilalabas ang buong detalye ng desisyon, ngunit ayon sa ilang mambabatas, wala umanong sapat na basehan ang reklamo.”
(UPDATE|| Senate junks Articles of Impeachment against VP Sara Duterte
The Senate has junked the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, with 19 senators voting in favor, 4 against, and 1 abstention.
In the vote held today, the majority of senators opted to archive the impeachment complaint—meaning it will not proceed in the future hearings.
The full details of the decision have yet to be released, but according to some lawmakers, the complaint allegedly lacked sufficient basis.)
The post also bore a graphic published by ABS-CBN News on Aug. 6, which clearly shows “how the senators voted on the motion to archive the impeachment case vs VP Sara Duterte.” While this post mentioned that the case was archived, it falsely claimed that it can no longer be re-opened.
A YouTube video uploaded on Aug. 7 also made a similar claim in its headline:
“SP Scudero Bumwelta kay Speaker Romualdez matapos Ibasura ang Impe4chment kay VP Sara Duterte Senado ([Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero] hits back at Speaker Romualdez after the Senate dismissed the impeachment against VP Sara Duterte)”
This is a mere clickbait. The video did not support its headline and showed clips of some senators’ speeches from the Aug. 6 session.
The Articles of Impeachment against the vice president were not junked. Although Sen. Rodante Marcoleta initially proposed a motion to dismiss Duterte’s impeachment, it was later amended to have the case archived.
In an interview published on Aug. 7, Senate Impeachment Court spokesperson Atty. Reginald Tongol told ABS-CBN News Channel that “there was no actual termination or dismissal of the Articles of Impeachment,” noting they were just referred to the archives.
Escudero said a motion to bring the impeachment case out of the archives could still be made “if the [SC] reverses itself, however possible or impossible that may be.”
On Aug. 5, the House filed a motion for reconsideration seeking a reversal of the High Court’s unanimous July 25 ruling. On the same day, the SC required Duterte, Davao-based lawyer Israeli Torreon, and other petitioners to comment on the motion within 10 days from notice.
The posts with untrue claims surfaced after the Senate archived the impeachment complaint against Duterte, with 19 votes in favor, four against, and one abstention.
Published by FB page Max Fm Tacurong City 91.1 Official (created on Jan. 25, 2020), the spurious post has so far received 428 interactions. The inaccurate video, uploaded by YouTube channel KABAYAN NEWS PH (April 29, 2020), has garnered 14,280 engagements as of writing.
