MANILA, Philippines — Following the press conference of lawyer Vic Rodriguez, spokesperson of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., a YouTube channel released a video claiming in its title that the petition against Marcos has been dismissed.
CLAIM: On December 23, 201, Banat News TV posted a vlog with the title: “JUST IN: FINALLY! DISMISSED NA! Atty. Vic Rodriguez IPINAKITA naang EBIDENSYA! BBM PANALO na! SARA.”
Related Stories
RATING: This claim is false.
FACTS:
What did the video say
The video opened with an unknown narrator sharing the December 2021 Pulse Asia pre-elections survey where Marcos and his running-mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio led. The survey showed that 53% of the respondents would pick Marcos as their president and Duterte-Carpio as vice president.
The video then played part of Rodriguez's December 22 press conference where he shared details on the UniTeam’s relief operations for communities affected by Typhoon Odette.
In the same press conference, which was streamed on Facebook, Rodriguez also showed a Bureau of Internal Review certification showing that it received four payments on December 27, 2001 from Marcos, totaling to P67,137.21.
According to the receipt, Marcos paid a total of P13,137.27 for total deficiency income tax, fine of P36,000 and surcharge of P18,000.
Details on the document are central to one of the arguments of petitioners asking the Commission on Elections to cancel or deny due course to Marcos' Certificate of Candidacy.
Screengrab by Philstar.com, January 3, 10:58 a.m.
What the post left out
The video did not support its headline that stated that Marcos had already "won". It is unclear if it pertains to the presidential aspirant winning the polls, which is still months away, or to petitions seeking to block his electoral bid.
The Comelec already received the respective memoranda of the petitioners and Marcos’ legal team, but to date, it has yet to resolve the petition to cancel Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy more than a week since Rodriguez’s press conference.
Comelec also has yet to resolve petitions filed seeking Marcos’ disqualification.
The poll body has, however, junked a petition to declare Marcos as a nuisance bet, filed by fellow presidential aspirant Danilo Lihaylihay.
It is true that Marcos led the latest Pulse Asia pre-election survey with 53% of respondents saying they would vote for him if polls were held then.
Essential context
The video was posted while the Comelec Second Division deliberates on the memoranda filed by the two parties in the pending petition to cancel COC against Marcos.
Marcos is also facing disqualification suits pending in other Comelec divisions. At least three remain pending before the poll body.
The Comelec has yet to release its final list of candidates for the 2022 national polls, although it has trimmed down presidential bets to 15 and vice-presidential aspirants to nine in an updated tentative list released late in December.
Why does it matter?
Since the video was posted on YouTube, it has gained 93,709 views, 2,600 likes and 386 comments.
Appreciation of the document presented by Rodriguez, as well as court certification from the petitioners, is up to the discretion of the Comelec.
The case is also seen to reach the Supreme Court on appeal. — Kristine Joy Patag
—
This story is part of the Philippine Fact-check Incubator, an Internews initiative to build the fact-checking capacity of news organizations in the Philippines and encourage participation in global fact-checking efforts
Want to know more about our fact-checking initiative? Check our FAQs here.
Have a claim you want fact-checked? Reach out to us at factcheck@philstar.com.