MISSING CONTEXT: Prosecutor Cañete files suit against De Lima anew

At a glance

• Claim: Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin Cañete filed a suit against Senator Leila De Lima anew.
• Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
• The facts: The contempt suit cited in the video was filed in December 2020.
• Why we fact-checked this: The video containing this claim has gained 57,775 views, 1,800 likes, and 356 comments, as of writing.

Complete details

YouTube channel “Showbiz Fanaticz” posted a video on July 30, 2021, claiming that Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin Cañete had filed a new suit against Senator Leila de Lima.

The video was entitled, “BREAKING: DELIMA, MABUBULOK NA sa KULUNGAN Matapos Muling SAMAPAHAN ng KASO ni Prosecutor CAÑETE (Breaking news: De Lima will rot in jail after Prosecutor Cañete files another suit against her)!”

“‘Mabubulok ka na sa kulungan.’ Ito ang naging komento ngayon ng maraming netizens sa mundo ng Facebook, Twitter, at Instagram patungkol sa kaso na muling isinampa ng prosecutor laban kay Senator Leila de Lima patungkol sa pagkaka-involve nito sa iligal na droga,” the video narrated.

(“You will now rot in jail.” This is the comment of many netizens on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram about the new case that the prosecutor is filing against Senator Leila de Lima due to her involvement in illegal drugs.)

The video containing this claim has gained 57,775 views, 1,800 likes, and 356 comments, as of writing.

This claim is missing context.

The report cited by Showbiz Fanaticz, entitled “Gov’t prosecutors file contempt raps vs De Lima, lawyers,” was published by INQUIRER.net on December 4, 2020.

Prosecutors led by Provincial Prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo had then filed a contempt suit against De Lima and her lawyer Boni Tacardon for allegedly violating the sub judice rule. (READ: DOJ’s contempt suit against De Lima limits access to a trial watched by the world)

The DOJ filed the petition over statements Tacardon and De Lima made to the media about the progress of De Lima’s trial for illegal drug charges. The opposition senator cried foul over the contempt petition, claiming that the DOJ wanted to silence her camp by barring them from sharing developments in her trial with the public.

In March 2021, De Lima and Tacardon asked the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 205 to dismiss the contempt case, for one, “because [our] statements did not present any clear and present danger, or imminent threat to the administration of justice.”

The thumbnail of the video includes a photo of Cañete showing a stack of papers. The photo was from an article by the Philippine News Agency that was published on December 4, 2020. The caption read: “Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Darwin Canete carries documents filed before the Muntinlupa regional trial court on Friday (Dec. 4, 2020).” 

There are no recent reports of a new complaint filed by Cañete against the opposition senator. 

De Lima has been acquitted of one of three drug charges against her, but remains on trial for the two other charges of conspiracy to commit drug trading. 

On July 21, 2021, De Lima announced her bid for reelection as senator.

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 – Loreben Tuquero/Rappler.com

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