FACT CHECK: Post cites 2025 SC ruling to falsely claim VP Sara impeachment trial to be halted

The Supreme Court's 2025 ruling barred Duterte's impeachment then as the fourth complaint violated the one year bar rule; the ongoing impeachment trial is a separate proceeding that began in 2026 In 2025, the Supreme Court declared the fourth impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional, stopping the impeachment proceedings then. But this ruling does not affect her ongoing impeachment trial, which is based on new complaints filed in February 2026. The misleading post fails to mention that the Supreme Court ruling was issued in 2025 and does not apply to the ongoing impeachment trial. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. Claim: The ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte may be halted after the Supreme Court (SC) declared unconstitutional the fourth impeachment complaint against her. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: The reel bearing the claim was posted on July 25 and has already received 158,000 views, 11,100 reactions, 1,100 shares, and 330 comments as of writing. It shows a photo of Duterte’s defense counsel, including lawyers Sheila Sison, Michael Poa, Carlo Joaquin Narvasa, and Mark Vinluan. Background audio was attached to the reel, in which a narrator can be heard saying, “Breaking news! Impeachment trial posibleng ipatigil ng Supreme Court matapos idineklara ng Korte na labag sa Konstitusyon ang ikaapat na reklamong impeachment laban kay Pangalawang Pangulo Sara Duterte. Ang litratong ito ay galing mismo sa Supreme Court ng Pilipinas.” (Breaking News! The Supreme Court may halt the impeachment trial after declaring the fourth impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte unconstitutional. This photo comes directly from the Supreme Court of the Philippines.) Several Facebook users believed the claim. One comment reads, “Yes, thank you lord and thank you, your honors, the Supreme Court of the Philippines!” The facts: While the SC did issue a ruling stating that the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte was unconstitutional, it concerned the first impeachment drive against the Vice President in 2025. Contrary to the claim, it does not apply or nullify Duterte’s ongoing impeachment trial, which is based on a new set of complaints filed in February 2026. During the the first impeachment drive in 2025, the SC barred Duterte’s impeachment, saying that the fourth complaint against her already violated the one year bar rule. At the time, Duterte faced four complaints; the first three did not materialize and she was impeached on the fourth complaint. The High Court held that the House’s failure to act on the first three complaints meant they were effectively dismissed, and they were therefore deemed terminated on February 5, 2025. After a year, new complaints were filed against Duterte in February 2026. The third and fourth complaints were found to be sufficient in form and substance. Duterte was impeached again by the House in May. These new articles of impeachment are currently being heard in the Senate, convening as an impeachment court, since July 6. Since the second impeachment drive is based on fresh complaints filed in 2026, the 2025 SC ruling concerning a previous impeachment complaint has no connection to the current proceedings and does not bar the ongoing trial. The Senate trial continues its deliberation on the four articles of impeachment against Duterte, particularly her alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and grave threats. AI-generated: Artificial intelligence (AI) detector tools flagged the reel as AI-generated. Hive Detect rated the video as 99.9% likely to contain AI-generated content and 98.9% likely to have AI-generated audio. Undetectable AI also flagged the video as AI-generated with 97% confidence on its analysis. A reverse image search also did not show any credible photo issued by the Supreme Court that matches the image presented in the Facebook reel. Previous fact checks: Rappler has previously fact-checked similar false claims about Duterte’s impeachment: FACT CHECK: No new impeachment complaint vs Marcos; post misuses February 2026 report FACT CHECK: ‘News’ graphic listing confidential fund recipients from VP Sara trial is fake FACT CHECK: No SC order junking current impeachment proceedings vs VP Sara FACT CHECK: Sotto did not call for VP Sara’s ‘immediate’ conviction without due process FACT CHECK: No DOJ, SC order to stop Duterte impeachment; trial ongoing – Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 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