A video on YouTube repeats a false claim that ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro has been removed from Congress. This has already been debunked. Castro remains a member of the Lower House and there are no pending motions to either suspend or expel her.
Published on Jan. 25, a YouTube channel published the video with this headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG Het0 Go0dNews! Castr0 Pinatalsik sa K0ngreso? R0binVPSARA INC Sumug0d KamaraNatak0t?
(Just in. This is good news! Castro was kicked out of Congress. [Sen. Robin Padilla]. Vice President Sara Duterte rushed to Congress and scared them)”
The following text can also be read on the erroneous video’s thumbnail:
“SIBAK SI CASTRO? KORTE MAY HATOL NA ROBIN CASTRO VP SARA? GOODBYE NA SA KAMARA?
(Castro was fired? The court made its decision. Goodbye to Congress).”
The headline is clickbait. The narrator of the 31-minute video never showed any evidence to support the untrue claim. Instead, it only showed Sen. Robin Padilla’s post on Facebook calling for the removal of Castro.
Castro remains a member of Congress. According to the 1987 Constitution, a two-thirds vote of the House is required to suspend or remove a fellow member. There is no such move against Castro.
VERA Files Fact Check has debunked similar claims twice in the past two years, triggered by accusations linking the lawmaker to the communist movement, and a controversy related to Vice President Sara Duterte.
This time, the false claim reappeared as Castro criticized Duterte for mismanaging the education system, hence worsening the crisis during her two-year stint as the Education Secretary.
YouTube channel PINAS NEWS HEADLINES (July 24, 2017) published the video with the false claim, garnering over 940 online interactions and 41,400 views.
