FACT CHECK: Marcos did not order Pimentel to resign

Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered Senator Koko Pimentel to resign. 

The text in the thumbnail of a YouTube video says: “NABULAGA SI KOKO. NA-SHOCKED SA UTOS NG PANGULO! RESIGN NOW!” (Koko was shocked. Shocked by the order of the president! Resign now!)

The video showed a clip of Marcos’ interview last January 6, 2023, wherein he shared his administration’s plan to weed out high-ranking police officers connected to the drug war. The President’s answer to this question was connected to the false claim.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video has 37,000 views as of writing. It is also being shared on Facebook by multiple accounts.

The facts: Marcos, in the said interview, did not order Pimentel to resign. Marcos just answered a reporter’s query regarding Pimentel’s statement on Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos’ order for police officers to resign in connection with the administration’s campaign against the illegal drug trade.

Pimentel said the order was unjustified especially since Abalos did not mention names of drug syndicates or drug lords supposedly controlling the police force.

Marcos said the senator, whom he referred to as a top-notch lawyer, knows and understands that they have to first build a case to surely win it and have those involved jailed. According to the President, as of now, they have not yet identified any person involved. A commission that will look into the records of the officers has yet to be formed. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com

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