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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Congress did NOT remove Sara as VP

Congress removed Sara Duterte from her post as vice president

YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER 10/07/2023 False

There was neither an order or pronouncement from either chamber of Congress of any impeachment proceeding to initiate the removal of the vice president from office.

House lawmakers only stripped the Office of the Vice President (OVP) of its P500 million confidential funds in the 2024 national budget. The House also removed the P150 million confidential funds for the education department, which is also headed by Duterte. 

A YouTube video is claiming that Congress removed Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio from her post. Not true. There is no impeachment complaint filed or pending against Duterte.

Uploaded on Oct. 7, the erroneous video bore the headline:

Diosko po! Grabe ang nangyari kay VPSARA tinanggal ng Kongreso, Sen Imee at Pres BBM nagWarning na (Oh my god! Something cruel happened to Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio. Removed by Congress. Sen. Imee Marcos and President Bongbong Marcos gave a warning)!” 

There was neither an order or pronouncement from either chamber of Congress of any impeachment proceeding to initiate the removal of the vice president from office. 

House lawmakers only stripped the Office of the Vice President (OVP) of its P500 million confidential funds in the 2024 national budget. The House also removed the P150 million confidential funds for the education department, which is also headed by Duterte. 

The P650-million worth of funds from Duterte’s offices were reallocated to agencies which are at the forefront of addressing tensions in the West Philippine Sea, including the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. 

Impeachment complaints originate from the House of Representatives and are transmitted to the Senate after a one-third vote of all representatives. The Senate, convening as an impeachment court, has the power to remove an incumbent vice president after a two-thirds vote of its members. There is no impeachment complaint filed against Duterte. 

The video emerged as Duterte was criticized after the OVP spent its P125 million confidential funds in just 11 days in 2022. 

The rest of the video merely played a clip of Sen. Imee Marcos’ interview where she claimed that Duterte’s critics were just politicking, and former palace spokesperson Harry Roque’s vlog defending the vice president’s use of confidential funds. 

Uploaded by YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER and WANGBUDISS TV, the video has received 114,105 views, 3,166 likes and 659 comments.

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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)