FALSE: Justice Leonen impeached, Bongbong Marcos wins electoral protest

At a glance:

• Claim: Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has been impeached from the Supreme Court (SC), which means Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr won his electoral protest with the Supreme Court.
• Rating: FALSE
• The Facts: Leonen has not been impeached as of writing. The impeachment complaint is still pending in the House of Representatives. On March 25, the complaint was endorsed by House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and would be included in the next session’s order of business. This does not reverse the SC’s decision to junk Marcos’s electoral protest.
• Why we fact-checked this: In less than 24 hours after it was posted, the video containing the claim has had over 110,000 views and 2,500 likes on YouTube. Various public groups on Facebook have also shared it.

Complete Details:

On Tuesday, March 30, YouTube channel “PHILIPPINES TRENDING NEWS” uploaded a video that falsely claimed Associate Justice Marvic Leonen had been impeached from the Supreme Court, which effectively reverses the SC’s decision to junk Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr’s electoral protest.

The video was entitled, “JUST IN: PRES DUTERTE SAWAKAS! PANALO nasi MARCOS VELASCO vs JUSTICE LEONEN IMPEACH NA LENI SIBAKIN.”

(Just in: President Duterte, finally! Marcos has won, Velasco vs Justice Leonen finally impeached, fire Leni.)

Starting at the 1:30 mark, the video contained the text “MARCOS PANALO NA! LEONEN IMPEACH NA (Marcos won! Leonen impeached).”

As of writing, the claim on Leonen’s impeachment, as well as Marcos’ victory in the electoral protest, are both false. The audio contained in the video doesn’t present any proof that Leonen has been impeached, nor does it discuss the ruling on the electoral protest.

The impeachment complaint against the SC justice, filed on December 7, 2020, is still pending in the House of Representatives as of Wednesday, March 31. Following the procedural process for impeachment complaints, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco endorsed this complaint on March 25. It will be discussed when the House resumes its session in May.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court entirely dismissed Marcos’ electoral protest in February 2021.

The false video has over 110,000 views and 2,500 likes on YouTube, as of writing. Various public groups on Facebook have also shared the video.

Rappler previously debunked claims on the Marcos electoral protest – Dylan Salcedo/Rappler.com

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.