Multiple Facebook pages and at least one YouTube channel claimed that the Supreme Court has removed Vice President Sara Duterte and Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero from office. This is false.
Published on June 28, an FB page shared a graphic with the text:
“KAKAPASOK LANG! SUPREME COURT NAGDESISYON NA. VP SARAH AT ESCUDERO NAIYAK, PAREHO TINANGGALAN NG KAPANGYARIHAN.”
(JUST IN! Supreme Court has decided. VP Sara and Escudero cried, both were stripped of power.)
Likewise, a YouTube channel bearing the same text for its headline claimed:
“Sobrang nakakagulat na balita. Senate President Chiz Escudero, ginulat ng Supreme Court. VP Sara Duterte nahiya, tinanggalan na ng kapangyarihan ayon sa nakalap nating impormasyon. Aalisin na si Senator Chiz Escudero, inaabugado niya raw kasi ang ini-impeach…”
(Very shocking news. Senate President Chiz Escudero was surprised by the Supreme Court. VP Sara Duterte was shamed, stripped of power according to the information we gathered. Senator Chiz Escudero will be removed because he’s lawyering for the impeached.)
This is false. There is no SC decision removing Duterte or Escudero from their positions.
Escudero has no pending case in the Supreme Court.
As to Duterte, only the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, not the SC, has jurisdiction over and decide her impeachment case.
According to an impeachment primer released by the University of the Philippines College of Law, the SC can only intervene in an impeachment case to review its proceedings and “determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the government.”
The erroneous claim surfaced after the House of Representatives submitted to the Senate a 37-page reply to Duterte’s response to the Articles of Impeachment against her.
Published by FB pages Magsasaka Mabuhay Ka (created July 18, 2017), Pinoy Glam (Aug. 27, 2024) and General News (Sept. 3, 2024), the posts have so far garnered 1,323 reactions, 1,913 comments and 132 shares.
Posted by the YouTube Channel TATAK TRENDING PH, the video carrying the same claim has gained around 25,560 views, 1,200 likes and 374 comments.
