Philippine senatorial candidate Francis Pangilinan has vowed if he wins to “look at the evidence” before considering his verdict on Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. A circulating graphic claiming to show Pangilinan announcing he would vote to convict Duterte is fabricated.
“When I win, I will vote to impeach Sara Duterte,” reads a graphic shared May 6 on Facebook which suggests Pangilinan made the remarks one day prior.
The image includes social media handles for iMPACT Leadership, a youth-focused organization in the Philippines (archived link).
The image also surfaced elsewhere on Facebook as the Philippines headed to vote in a mid-term election largely defined by the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte (archived link).
The 12 senators chosen will form half the jury in Duterte’s trial — tentatively set for July — that could see her permanently barred from public office.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Pangilinan appeared poised to make a comeback ranked fifth, an initial tally from the poll body Comelec released by local media showed as of May 13 (archived link).
But there have been no official reports of him announcing he would support Duterte’s conviction and a representative for Pangilinan’s camp told AFP on May 8 he “made no such remark”.
Read the full story on AFP Fact Check.