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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
The Vice President filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to block her pending impeachment trial, but the High Court has not yet issued its decision
Claim: The Supreme Court (SC) has moved to block the pending impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook reel, posted on April 19, has already gathered 619,000 views, 11,000 reactions, 1,000 comments, and 2,000 shares as of writing.
The text on the graphic says, “Panalo si VP (Vice President) Sara. Supreme Court kumilos, haharangin ang impeachment?”
(VP Sara won. Supreme Court has moved to block the impeachment?)
Several social media users commented on the post, praising the supposed move.
The claim circulated after Duterte returned to the Philippines from The Hague, Netherlands, where her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is currently detained at the International Criminal Court over crimes against humanity charges linked to his drug war.
The facts: Contrary to the claim, the High Court has not yet issued its decision on the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by the Vice President on February 18, which seeks to block her pending impeachment trial. As of writing, the latest move from the SC was to direct Congress to respond to the petition.
On April 23, the High Court issued a notice warning the public against “fake orders, notices, issuances, and advisories falsely attributed to the Supreme Court and other courts and offices in the Judiciary.”
Sara’s petition: The Vice President’s petition asked the SC to nullify the fourth impeachment complaint filed against her, claiming that it violated Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution which states that no impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year. (READ: Sara’s argument: House impeachment invalid for violating ‘one-year bar’ rule)
Duterte also asked the High Court to issue a temporary restraining order to block her impeachment trial.
Aside from Duterte, other Mindanao lawyers also appealed to the SC, arguing that the articles of impeachment used in the case against the Vice President allegedly suffer from several constitutional infirmities and are therefore invalid.
The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on February 5 due to alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes.
The lower chamber transmitted the impeachment complaint to the Senate just before the bicameral chamber took a recess due to the 2025 midterm elections. Senate President Chiz Escudero said the impeachment trial will commence by the end of July.
Meanwhile, Duterte said on April 22 that her lawyers are “confident” in winning the impeachment case against her. – Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com
Angelee Kaye Abelinde, a campus journalist from Naga City, is a second-year Journalism student of Bicol University and the current copy editor of The Bicol Universitarian. She is a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2024.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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