FACT CHECK: No impeachment complaint filed vs Ombudsman Remulla

No formal complaint has been filed or made public, and lawmakers say they have not seen any such document Claim: An impeachment complaint has been filed against Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: Two videos uploaded on YouTube contain the said claim. The first video, posted as a short by user @RachelleFayemarv25 on July 9, displays the on-screen text, “Impeachment complaint laban kay Ombudsman Remulla ikinakasa na.” (An impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Remulla is already being lodged.) It also carries the text, “Wow good news po yan sana tuluyan [nang] makasuhan at makulong silang lahat.” (Wow, that’s good news. I hope they all get charged and jailed for good.) The second video, uploaded on July 4 by Tap Wan Rewind, is titled “Breaking: May impeachment na kay Remulla! PNP handa na sa posibleng pag-aresto kay Marcoleta.” (Breaking: There’s already an impeachment complaint against Remulla! The PNP is ready for Marcoleta’s possible arrest.) Posted days before Senator Rodante Marcoleta was eventually ordered arrested, the video discusses the possibility of the senator’s arrest alongside claims that an impeachment complaint against Remulla was already filed. As of writing, both posts have garnered over 218,1000 views and 1,958 likes altogether. The facts: There is no active impeachment case against Remulla. No impeachment complaint has been formally filed or made public, despite online claims that efforts to remove him are currently happening. The claim traces back to a July 3 X post by lawyer Jesus Falcis, who cited an unnamed source claiming an impeachment complaint against Remulla was “being circulated among some congressmen” and was said to be backed by some religious groups. However, no copy of the alleged complaint or supporting evidence has been made public. Several lawmakers have since said they have neither seen nor received such a complaint. Tingog Partylist representative Jude Acidre clarified that he had no personal knowledge of any impeachment effort. He said only that filing an impeachment complaint against the Ombudsman was not impossible. Palace press officer Claire Castro likewise said no impeachment complaint against Remulla had been discussed in meetings with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and that no official complaint had been made public. Former president and Pampanga 2nd District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was linked online to the supposed effort against Remulla, also denied any involvement, with her legal counsel describing the claim’s original source as unverified. The rumors surfaced days after the Ombudsman filed plunder charges against Marcoleta, prompting backlash from some of his supporters. The Office of the Ombudsman has since dismissed the impeachment rumors as “a move by the guilty.” – Cyril Bocar/Rappler.com Efren Cyril Bocar is a journalist from Llorente, Eastern Samar, who graduated with a degree in English Language Studies at the Visayas State University. Cyril is also a graduate of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024. 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. How does this make you feel? Loading