FACT CHECK: Supreme Court did not dismiss Sara Duterte impeachment after House hearings

Claim: The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte after the hearings conducted by the House justice panel on the impeachment complaints filed against her.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video making the claim was uploaded on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, the same day as the third House committee on justice hearing. It has since accumulated over 56,820 views, 4,200 likes, and 362 comments as of writing, and was posted by “PINAS NEWS INSIDER,” a channel with 1.2 million subscribers.

The text in the thumbnail states: “Tinapos lahat ang kongreso! TRO (temporary restraining order) ipinag-utos na. Case dismissed na! Impeachment ni VP Sara binasura sa Korte.” (The entire Congress is finished! A temporary restraining order has been issued. The case has been dismissed! Vice President Sara’s impeachment has been thrown out by the Court.)

Many online commenters appeared to accept the claim as true, posting messages praising Duterte, thanking the SC, and expressing support and relief over the alleged decision.

The facts: The SC did not dismiss any impeachment case against Duterte following a mini-trial conducted by the House justice committee. There is no ruling, order, or action from the Court that links the House hearings to any dismissal of an impeachment complaint, and no official record or credible report supports such a claim. 

Impeachment is an exclusive power of Congress, according to the 1987 Constitution. Only the House of Representatives can initiate and determine the sufficiency of an impeachment complaint, while the Senate acts as the impeachment court. The SC may only review impeachment-related matters in cases involving grave abuse of discretion, such as violations of constitutional limits like the one-year bar rule. (READ: Supreme Court bars Sara impeachment, can be refiled next year)

This means the SC cannot dismiss the impeachment case or issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) at this stage because it has no authority to intervene in impeachment proceedings, which are solely handled by Congress. No such rulings or announcements have appeared in the Court’s official channels or in mainstream media outlets.

Impeachment hearing: During the third House committee on justice hearing, lawmakers scrutinized allegations of unexplained wealth against Duterte. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) reported that around P6.77 billion in bank transactions involving Duterte and her husband, Mans Carpio, were recorded from 2006 to 2025 — figures far exceeding what is reflected in her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). (READ: Sara Duterte’s P6.7-B bank transactions don’t match her SALN declarations)

The AMLC also cited 630 covered transaction reports and 33 suspicious transaction reports, including P230.87 million in transactions from 2019 to 2024, a period when Duterte declared no cash holdings in her SALNs. Her official net worth based on SALNs peaked at P88 million in 2024.

In the same hearing, former senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV testified that the Vice President and members of her family allegedly received a total of P181.6 million in payments from alleged drug lord Samuel “Sammy” Uy between 2011 and 2013. 

He also reiterated claims of undisclosed joint and individual bank accounts with transactions not reflected in her SALNs, arguing that these allegations, if substantiated, may constitute impeachable offenses such as betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.

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