AT A GLANCE
- Senator Vicente Sotto III did not call for the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte without valid evidence, contrary to claims circulating on social media.
- Sotto denied making any statements regarding the impeachment trial and emphasized the importance of following judicial ethics and rules.
- The impeachment trial of Duterte is ongoing, with discussions about the required vote count for conviction, which may not be fixed at 16 senators due to potential absences.
Claim: Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III called for the conviction of Vice President Sara Duterte in her impeachment trial even without valid evidence.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: Facebook user Jonathan Ornoza 2.0 posted Sotto’s supposed statement, labeled as “breaking news.”
The post reads, “Gusto ni Sotto i-convict agad si Sara kahit walang valid na ebidensya! ‘Wag na daw sumunod sa rules dahil ito daw ang nais ng taumbayan.”
(Sotto wants to convict Sara immediately, even without valid evidence! He says there’s no need to follow the rules because that is supposedly what the people want.)
The user then reacted to Sotto’s supposed remark: “Ang kapal naman ng pagmumukha mo… Kaya nga ginawa ‘yang rules na ‘yan para sundin, tapos kayo, di niyo susundin?”
(You got some nerve… Those rules were made to be followed, yet you won’t follow them?)
The post has 49,100 reactions, 14,900 comments, and 7,500 shares as of writing.
The facts: There are no public reports, statements, or interviews proving that Sotto said this.
“That’s fake news. I have never issued any statement about the impeachment court at all,” Sotto confirmed to Rappler through a message on Friday, September 18.
He added: “I have been exercising judicial ethics and restraint since day one. I have never even allowed any interviews.”
A similar false claim about Sotto supposedly calling for Duterte’s conviction without due process surfaced in August, which was already debunked. Fake quotes of Sotto related to the Senate impeachment trial have also been previously fact-checked.
Back when he was Senate president and preparing to receive the articles of impeachment from the lower house, Sotto had urged fellow senators to stay impartial, saying that the Senate should “follow the Constitution” and convene as an impeachment court upon receiving the articles of impeachment.
The Senate convened as an impeachment court in May. The trial is now on its 12th week since it began on July 6.
Conviction: Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in May 2026 on the grounds of alleged betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and other high crimes. (LIVE UPDATES: Impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte)
Based on Article XI, Section 3(6) of the 1987 Constitution, the conviction of an impeachable official such as the Vice President requires the concurrence of two-thirds of all of the members of the Senate. At the start of the impeachment trial, presiding officer Senator Chiz Escudero set the conviction threshold at 16 senators. However, the required vote count is currently under deliberation, with the Senate impeachment court consulting four retired Supreme Court justices to define the conviction threshold.
Three of the four former justices concluded that the number of votes is not fixed at 16, saying the two-thirds requirement does not automatically mean the denominator is 24.
The justices said senators who are absent due to “some legal impediment or restraints” should not be included in the vote count. Currently, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta are detained over separate plunder cases; Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is evading an International Criminal Court arrest warrant; and Senator Loren Legarda has been on medical leave.
The senator-judges are set to hold a caucus on Monday, September 21, to discuss the disputed 16-vote threshold. – Eirene Manatlao/Rappler.com
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?