[DECODED] How charter change narratives spread online amid Senate chaos

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The ongoing Senate chaos has already birthed incredible lies and opposing stories, yet another false narrative has come to light: that the Senate minority was organizing another coup to pave the way for charter change (Cha-Cha).

From as early as the day Senator Alan Peter Cayetano was elected Senate president, hundreds of Facebook posts traced by data forensics group The Nerve falsely claimed a possible no-election scenario in 2028 to extend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term via a constituent assembly (Con-Ass). This was bolstered, on the day Senator Bato dela Rosa escaped his International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, with an old report where President Marcos expressed openness to Cha-Cha.

These claims were being perpetuated by Duterte allies and spread online via supposed news pages without context or verification. 

The circulation of these narratives was dubbed a “false flag operation” to distract from current issues, like Duterte ally Dela Rosa’s continued evasion of his ICC warrant and Vice President Sara Duterte’s upcoming impeachment trial. 

Chaos triggers false narratives

In a press conference on May 18, Cayetano talked about efforts to form a new majority and oust him as the leader of the upper chamber for a renewed Cha-Cha push.

This was echoed by his ally, Senator Imee Marcos, in an interview with journalist Karen Davila on May 21. “Their problem is that they could lose in the Senate impeachment trial, and if Vice President Sara Duterte wins in 2028, then they’re finished. So now the discussion is to push through with constituent assembly, amend the Constitution, add three years to the terms of incumbent lawmakers, and even extend the President’s term until 2031,” said the President’s sister, who has a publicly fraught relationship with her brother.

Davila challenged Senator Marcos in the interview, questioning the latter’s source and the credibility of her claim. But that hasn’t stopped the narrative from circulating on social media. 

The Nerve analyzed more than 1,000 public Facebook posts that mentioned charter change in the past 30 days. The posts peaked on May 14, the day of Dela Rosa’s escape from the Senate, then spiked again on May 22, the day after Senator Marcos spread the Cha-Cha narrative to the media.

On May 11, the day Cayetano was elected as Senate president, several Facebook posts republished a post by Publicus Asia founder Malou Tiquia on her Facebook page, claiming that a term extension via constituent assembly was now “on the table,” possibly leading to the suspension of the national elections in 2028 and the extension of President Marcos’ term.

MALOU TIQUIA. Facebook posts spreading an unverified post by Malou Tiquia claiming the suspension of national elections in 2028 due to supposed plans to form a constituent assembly. The Nerve screenshots

Three days after, on May 14, in the wake of Dela Rosa’s escape, SMNI posted a video of Vice President Sara Duterte saying in Filipino: “First is former president Rodrigo Duterte, next is Senator Bato and whoever else is included in the so-called ICC complaint. The next thing will be charter change.” She then cited a “recent Bloomberg report” where President Marcos expressed openness to changes in the Constitution. 

But that report was from two years ago, in January 2024, more than a year before the 2025 midterm elections. 

While there was a concerted effort for constitutional reform during the first half of the Marcos administration, it has simmered down since the midterms. Resolutions filed in 2025 on the formation of a constitutional convention have languished in the House of Representatives. Hearings at the constitutional amendments committee haven’t been aggressive as well.

Still, SMNI’s video — among the highest engaged posts in The Nerve’s analysis — garnered more than 80,000 in total reactions, comments, and shares. An SMNI post derived from the video also got at least 25,000 of the same engagements.

SMNI, founded by Duterte ally and alleged trafficker Apollo Quiboloy, has been investigated for peddling disinformation and attacking critics of the Duterte administration. 

Tiquia’s post and its subsequent reposts, meanwhile, garnered as much as 20,000 engagements in total. Tiquia has been previously flagged for also spreading disinformation.

SARA DUTERTE. SMNI’s Facebook posts sharing Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement claiming a renewed charter change push of the Marcos administration. The Nerve screenshots

Meanwhile, more than 30 posts in The Nerve’s analysis mentioned Duterte-era official Lito Banayo. The posts tackled Banayo’s media interviews in the latter half of May, where he alleged a supposed meeting with House Speaker Bojie Dy, a deputy speaker, then-Senate president Tito Sotto, and then-Senate secretary Dong Mendoza.

The meeting, Banayo claimed, tackled plans to form a Con-Ass, with proposals to form a regional Senate and grow the number of senators to 54 (with two senators per region). “Sweeteners” in the form of term extensions for lawmakers were also brought up, he added.

LITO BANAYO. Facebook posts spreading an unverified post by Malou Tiquia claiming the suspension of national elections in 2028 due to supposed plans to form a constituent assembly. The Nerve screenshots

In a plenary session on May 25, Senator Marcos ramped up the Cha-Cha narrative by taking to the Senate floor a video presentation purporting the same unverified claims circulating online.

But members of the Senate minority, particularly now-Minority Leader Sotto, weren’t having it, calling her video “propaganda” and motioning to strike it from Senate records. 

While Sotto admitted to the meeting with Dy, he said that claims were made out of context.

“I hope they asked their source if I even agreed to the proposals,” Sotto said in a mix of English and Filipino. “I didn’t even mention it to any member of the Senate…. Just because I heard these ideas doesn’t mean I already support them.”

Senator Marcos withdrew her video presentation later on, upon the advice of Cayetano.

‘False flag operation’

Around 42 of the 100 most highly-shared posts in The Nerve’s analysis were published by pages with posts in the format of news cards — but with no bylines, efforts to verify the claims they state in their posts, nor context to substantiate the claims. These are journalistic standards that are expected from legitimate news organizations.

NEWS CARDS. Several posts spreading charter change narratives amid the ongoing Senate chaos are published in news cards, but with no bylines, verification, and context that are standard for legitimate news. The Nerve screenshots

As newsrooms are deprioritized by social media algorithms and shrink across the country, online pages with undisclosed affiliations and abysmal journalistic standards have been quick to fill the gap.  

A previous report by The Nerve found these same patterns of co-opting the news format in Peanut Gallery Media Network, founded by social media operator Franco Mabanta, who has had links to the Dutertes and Marcoses. 

In a previous interview with Rappler, a high-ranking staff member of a senator said the ongoing spread of Cha-Cha narratives appears to be a “false flag operation.”

“You create a scenario or topic to discuss a different agenda. What they’re doing now is to divert attention from their weakening Senate majority,” the source said.

“They create their own narratives. It’s a battle of narratives,” they added.

Ironically, it was the Duterte administration that once aggressively pushed for Cha-Cha as part of its federalism agenda, with plans to suspend the 2019 midterm elections and extend the presidential run of Rodrigo Duterte. 

As Cha-Cha narratives circulate yet again, two things remain. One, Dela Rosa has yet to face his arrest warrant, issued by the ICC for his role in the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs. Two, Vice President Duterte has yet to directly address allegations of anomalous spending of public funds and unexplained wealth taking center stage at her impeachment trial. – Rappler.com