A YouTube video and multiple Facebook (FB) posts claim that Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer be impeached after several senators resigned and Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero was “stripped of power.” These claims are false.
Originally published by a YouTube channel on June 14, the spurious 52-minute video bore a headline that read:
“KAKAPASOK LANG! MGA SENADOR NAG-RESIGN NA, CHIZ ESCUDERO NAGULAT (JUST IN! SENATORS HAVE RESIGNED, CHIZ ESCUDERO SHOCKED)”
Its thumbnail also carried an overlay text that partly read:
“ESCUDERO NAGULAT TINANGGALAN NG KAPANGYARIHAN (ESCUDERO SHOCKED, STRIPPED OF POWER).”
In the first 20 seconds of the video, a narrator claimed:
“Sobrang nakakagulat na balita! Grabe, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero nagsalita na. Nagulat si Vice President Sara Duterte. Tinanggal na impeachment. Ayon sa nakalap nating impormasyon, nag-alisan na ang mga senador. Huling araw na nila sa Senate. Sunod-sunod na nag-alisan ang mga senador kaya hindi na nila ma-impeach si VP Sara Duterte.
(Shocking news! Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero has spoken. Vice President Sara Duterte was surprised. The impeachment has been dropped. Based on the information we gathered, the senators have already left. It was their last day in the Senate. One after another, the senators stepped down, so they can no longer impeach VP Sara Duterte.)”
Contrary to the claims, no evidence of any resignation was shown in the YouTube video. It only featured portions of the June 11 Senate session during which Escudero delivered his closing statement and the outgoing senators—Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Sens. Cynthia Villar and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr.—had their valedictory speeches as the 19th Congress adjourned sine die on the same day.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.