FALSE: SC allows damage suit against Trillanes in September 2020

Claim:

The Supreme Court (SC) favored a Quezon City (QC) court that allowed a damage suit against former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in September 2020, as reported in a “breaking” news article.

This claim was flagged by Facebook Claim Check, the platform’s tool for monitoring potentially false content.

Rating: FALSE

The facts:

This is not “breaking news” or a recent development. The SC decision was handed down in 2018.

At least 4 posts contained this claim, all posted on September 7, linking to the same article published on pinoynewscenter.blogspot.com. The article was entitled, “BREAKING! Supreme Court pinaboran na ang QC court ruling para ipagpatuloy ang damage suit laban kay Antonio Trillanes!” (BREAKING! Supreme Court favors QC court ruling to continue damage suit against Antonio Trillanes!)

The article did not contain a date. It cited the Philippine News Agency (PNA) as its source.

A paragraph in the article was practically lifted from a PNA article published more than two years ago, on May 16, 2018, entitled, “SC affirms QC court ruling to proceed damage suit vs. Trillanes.” The two articles contained mostly the same text.

In 2014, Trillanes accused businessman Antonio Tiu of being a dummy of former vice president Jejomar Binay in the property known as “Hacienda Binay.” Tiu filed a civil case against the former senator before the QC Regional Trial Court (RTC). Trillanes’ motion to dismiss the civil suit was denied in 2015 by QC RTC Branch 101.

Trillanes then filed a petition with the SC invoking parliamentary immunity but was denied by the High Court. It said Trillanes’ statements were made to the media and were therefore not covered by parliamentary speech or debate privilege.

The 2018 SC decision was the latest development in the case, according to Trillanes’ staff, who also said that a hearing on the case has been scheduled in December.

The former senator faces 14 cases under the Duterte administration. In February, he posted a P10,000-bail for his 14th case, which was for one count of conspiracy to commit sedition.

In the past, Rappler has debunked other false claims regarding the former senator, such as a fake quote that circulated in June. – Loreben Tuquero/Rappler.com

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