FACT CHECK: Old SC ruling misrepresented as latest decision on VP Sara impeachment

Claim: The Supreme Court has dismissed Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment case. 

Rating: MISSING CONTEXT 

Why we fact-checked this: The post bearing the claim has already received 6,600 reactions, 2,000 comments, and 175 shares as of writing. It was posted on March 30, days after the House hearing on Duterte’s impeachment started. 

The post shows photos of Duterte and Supreme Court spokesperson Camille Sue Mae Ting. The text on the photos reads, “Korte Supreme ibinasura ang impeachment ni VP Sara Duterte. God is good!”

(Supreme Court dismisses VP Sara Duterte’s impeachment. God is good!) 

While most of the comments raised concerns about the legitimacy of the information, some believed that the Supreme Court ruling referenced in the post was issued amid the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. 

One comment reads, “God is good all the time tuloy lang ang laban (God is good all the time, the fight will continue).” 

The facts: While the Supreme Court did block impeachment proceedings against Duterte, it did so in a decision issued in July 2025 and affirmed in January 2026. These rulings are not about the new complaints filed against Duterte in 2026 in the renewed impeachment drive against her.

The photo of Ting was taken from a video posted by Bombo Radyo Dagupan on January 29, 2026, in which she announced that the High Court denied the motion for reconsideration that sought to overturn the SC decision that voided the impeachment complaints against Duterte.

This referred to the SC ruling issued in July 2025, which deemed Duterte’s impeachment case as unconstitutional for violating the “one-year bar rule.” Article XI, Section 3(5) of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states, “No impeachment proceedings shall be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”

This effectively stopped the impeachment proceedings against Duterte, which began in February 2025 after 215 lawmakers, or more than two-thirds of the House’s 306 members, backed the resolution that led to the transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Renewed impeachment drive: New complaints against Duterte were filed in February 2026, and two out of four complaints were declared sufficient in form and substance. After receiving Duterte’s response, the House justice committee began its hearing on March 25. 

On March 27, Duterte-allied lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to stop the impeachment proceedings again. However, the High Court has not yet released any ruling regarding the ongoing House hearing on Duterte’s impeachment. 

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has previously debunked similar claims about Duterte’s impeachment:

• FACT CHECK: 2025 news report used to claim VP Sara is now impeached 
• FACT CHECK: Nadine Lustre did not file an impeachment complaint vs Sara Duterte 
• FACT CHECK: SC ruling on impeachment did not declare Sara Duterte innocent 

– 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. 

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