Two videos claimed that Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III already filed a case in the Supreme Court (SC) against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“PBBM SINAMPAHAN SA KORTE SUPREMA | MANIFESTO NA TANGGALIN SA PWESTO SI PBBM, MAPAPABILIS NA (Case filed against [Marcos] in Supreme Court | Manifesto to remove Marcos from power will gain traction),” the in-video text of two YouTube videos posted on Jan. 4 and 6 read.
This is false. Pimentel said he will file a petition at the SC to question the 2024 national budget. He is not filing a case against the president himself.
The petition — which seeks to challenge the constitutional basis behind Congress’s addition of P450 billion worth of unprogrammed appropriations in the 2024 national budget — is currently under the review of Pimentel’s lawyers.
Unprogrammed appropriations are government expenses without specified sources of funding at the time the budget was prepared but could be funded through grants, foreign funds, or excess government revenues, according to the Department of Budget and Management.
The SC previously ruled that Philippine presidents are immune from lawsuits, according to former associate justice Antonio Carpio. Only an impeachment from Congress can remove a president from office, as stated in Article XI, Sec. 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
The YouTube videos also claimed that Pimentel’s petition would drum up support for a manifesto recognizing Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio as chief executive instead of Marcos.
This is misleading: Pimentel’s upcoming SC petition has nothing to do with calls to remove Marcos from power.
The erroneous claim appeared shortly after Pimentel told Senate reporters on Jan. 3 about his plan to file the petition.
Posted by YouTube channels Pinas Watcher (created on Jan. 18, 2021) and PINAS NEWS TV (created on April 14, 2019), the videos garnered a total of 24,665 views, 5 reactions, and 279 comments.
A reupload of the PINAS NEWS TV video by Facebook page Pinas News TV garnered 1,200 reactions, 618 comments, and 31,000 views.
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