FACT CHECK: Contrary to claim, Sotto says Senate is ‘ready’ to act on VP Sara impeachment

Claim: The impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte will no longer push through after Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III backed out from convening the Senate as an impeachment court.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video containing the claim was posted on May 4 and has since garnered over 19,000 views, 600 likes, and 50 comments on YouTube. Another video with a similar claim was posted on May 2, accumulating over 436,000 views, 26,000 likes, and 1,500 comments.

Both videos feature similar thumbnails with text claiming, “Ligwak si Sotto. Umatras na! Impeachment ni VP Sara hindi na matutuloy.”

(Sotto failed. He backed out! VP Sara’s impeachment won’t push through anymore.)

The May 4 video was uploaded by “Philippines Trending News,” a channel with over 534,000 subscribers, while the May 2 video was uploaded by “Pinas News Insider,” which has over 1.2 million subscribers. Both channels have consistently posted pro-Duterte content.

The facts: Sotto assured the public that the Senate is prepared to fulfill its constitutional duty should the House of Representatives impeach Duterte.

“Based on the Constitution, it’s automatic. That’s our job. No matter what others say, what matters is what the Constitution says: when Articles of Impeachment are received, we convene as an impeachment court.” Sotto said, as quoted in an Inquirer.net report.

While Sotto noted that the Senate can convene almost immediately after receiving the articles of impeachment, he clarified that the trial proper would require significant preparation to ensure due process. 

“The trial proper will take some time because there are preparations. We will be sending the impeached official a copy of the Articles of Impeachment,” Sotto added. “We will receive it after a number of days and we will ask the prosecution of the impeached official their response, right, and then we go into pre-trial. Then trial proper after everything is all set.”

Sotto said the upper chamber would hold pre-trial proceedings first, citing their experience in the 2012 impeachment case of the late chief justice Renato Corona. He added that the Senate may conduct the trial proper by June.

Duterte’s impeachment: The Senate can convene as an impeachment court after at least one-third or 106 members of the House of Representatives approve the articles of impeachment. On May 4, the House justice committee approved its report finalizing Duterte’s impeachment case.

House committee chairperson Gerville Luistro previously said a plenary vote may be held as early as May 11. (READ: What’s next after House committee OKs VP Sara impeachment complaints?)

Duterte is accused of misusing public funds, amassing ill-gotten wealth, and making death threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Debunked: Rappler has previously debunked several false claims involving Sotto and other public officials regarding the impeachment proceedings against Duterte:

• FACT CHECK: No SC ruling yet on indirect contempt case against Sotto
• FACT CHECK: SC did not disbar Batangas representative Gerville Luistro
• FACT CHECK: Supreme Court did not dismiss Sara Duterte impeachment after House hearings
• FACT CHECK: Supreme Court did not order Ramil Madriaga’s detention 
• FACT CHECK: Arroyo not the new House speaker, did not junk impeachment raps vs VP Sara 

– Reinnard Balonzo/Rappler.com 

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