A YouTube video claimed President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos ordered Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla to resign. This is false.
There are no official reports of Marcos ordering Remulla to step down from office. Remulla remains Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary. VERA Files Fact Check earlier debunked a similar claim about Remulla being replaced.
(Read VERA Files Fact Check: Harry Roque has NOT replaced Remulla as justice secretary)
The video was posted on Dec. 5, and carried the false headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG (JUST IN) PRES MARCOS GOODJOB! DOJ REMULLA PlNABABA SA PWESTO GENERAL BANTAG HUMARAP NA (DOJ REMULLA ORDERED TO STEP DOWN FROM OFFICE GENERAL BANTAG HAS APPEARED).”
The thumbnail also bore the text: “PINABABA SA PWESTO ITO ANG NAKAKAGULAT UTOS NG PANGULO (ASKED TO STEP DOWN FROM OFFICE THIS IS THE SHOCKING ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT).”
The thumbnail also featured images of suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gerald Bantag, Marcos and Remulla. An arrow pointing at Remulla’s photo further insinuates that he was asked to vacate the post.
The video showed no evidence to support the claim.
The first half only played an audio clip from a Dec. 5 Bombo Radyo Philippines news report on Marcos leading the ceremonial turnover of a housing project in Cavite. The rest of the video contained another vlogger’s commentary on Bantag’s alleged involvement in the killing of broadcast journalist Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa.
Marcos rejected calls for Remulla’s resignation last October when his son was arrested for alleged illegal drug possession.
The video was uploaded the same day Bantag attended the DOJ’s preliminary investigation on the murder cases of Mabasa and inmate Jun Villamor. Bantag’s camp also filed a motion for the DOJ panel to inhibit for lack of jurisdiction and citing the alleged “bad blood” between the suspended general and Remulla.
Many claims by YouTube channel Banat News TV (created on Dec. 26, 2015) have been fact-checked and found to be incorrect. Its Dec. 5 post garnered 110,251 views with several netizens also sharing the link on FB.
YouTube channels TUNAY NA KRITIKO (Jan. 22, 2020) and XCREW (Mar. 18, 2014) made reaction videos showing the same false headline and thumbnail.
The FB page Bbm – Sara (Sept. 17, 2022) also uploaded the same content with a similar headline but with question marks at the end. It garnered 3,900 reactions, 763 comments, 396 shares and 112,000 views.
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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.)
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