FALSE: Guanzon questions House prosecution’s plan to present court sheriff as witness in VP Duterte’s impeachment trial

Jessie Marco Cabrera

Former Commission on Elections commissioner Atty. Rowena Guanzon questioned the plan of the House Prosecution for court sheriff Abe Andres to serve as a witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, a post on the Facebook page “Ang Balita Ngayon” claims.

CLAIM:

The post claimed Guanzon posted a statement insisting that the Supreme Court’s decision is clear, that an official can only be impeached for actions committed while holding an impeachable office and during their current term.

“Impeachable officer ba siya nung ginawa niya ‘yan? Hindi. Current term niya ba niya ginawa ‘yan? Hindi rin. So mema lang.”

“Sa susunod niyan, ipapatawag na rin ng prosecution sa impeachment trial yung natalo ni Inday sa tumbang preso nung elementary siya,” the post stated quoting Guanzon, allegedly referring to the 2011 incident in which the then Davao City mayor punched Andres while enforcing a court-ordered demolition.

RATING: FALSE

CONCLUSION:

Atty. Guanzon did not post any statement referring to Andres being a witness as “mema.”

THE FACTS:

• There are no new posts on Guanzon’s social media platforms containing the statement. There are also no news websites that support this.
• Former Davao City court sheriff Andre Abes will indeed serve as a witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial next month to testify on her “tendency to inflict violence.”
• The Supreme Court made it clear that “The basis of any charge must be for impeachable acts or omissions committed in relation to their office and during the current term of the impeachable officer. For the President and Vice President, these acts must be sufficiently grave, amounting to the crimes described in Article XI, Section 2, or a betrayal of public trust given by the majority of the electorate.”
• The statement is likely fabricated