FACT CHECK: 2025 news report used to claim VP Sara is now impeached

Claim: Vice President Sara Duterte has now been impeached by the House of Representatives.

Rating: MISSING CONTEXT

Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook reel from Toto Leomel has garnered 117,000 views, 2,000 reactions, 280 shares, and 210 comments since it was posted on March 1.

The reel features a clip from a GMA News report about Duterte’s impeachment in the House of Representatives. “Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, isang bise presidente nga ng bansa ang inimpeach ng Kamara. Inindorso ng 215 na kongresista ang pang-apat na impeachment complaint laban kay Vice President Sara Duterte, sobra sa kailangang 102 o one-third ng lahat ng miyembro ng Kamara para hindi na ito litisin dito sa Kamara,” the reporter said.

(For the first time ever, a vice president of the country has been impeached by the House of Representatives. The fourth impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte was endorsed by 215 House members, more than the required 102 or one-third of the total House members for it not to be tried here in the House.)

A text overlay added to the reel reads, “VP Sara Duterte impeach[ed] na, kauna-unahang pagkakataon”(VP Sara Duterte is impeached, for the first time)” and “Courtesy: GMA7.”

Several comments beneath the post believed the claim in the video to be true, with a mixed reaction of anger and celebration among some.

The facts: The video clip in the post was from a GMA News report last year, when the House impeached Duterte on February 5, 2025. The Supreme Court later declared this unconstitutional, effectively stopping the impeachment proceedings against her.

The 2025 news report was taken out of context as it was reposted at a time when Duterte faces new impeachment complaints filed in 2026. The 2025 report was misrepresented as the latest development in the renewed impeachment drive against the Vice President.

The two active impeachment complaints against Duterte — one filed by clergy members and another filed by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera, both filed in February 2026 — were deemed sufficient in form and substance by the House justice committee on March 2 and 4, respectively.

Following this, Duterte was served a notice by the committee, giving her 10 days to respond to the allegations against her. Her camp received it on March 5, but she has yet to answer as of this writing.

The petitions seek Duterte’s removal from office for various alleged offenses, such as misuse of confidential funds, bribery of education officials, apparent threats to the life of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family, and her supposed unexplained wealth.

New impeachment drive: This is the second time that the House is seeking Duterte’s impeachment. In 2025, a total of 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.

However, no trial took place because her impeachment case was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court due to the “one-year bar rule.” Article XI, Section 3(5) of the Constitution states that “impeachment proceedings [cannot] be initiated against the same official more than once within a period of one year.”

Progressive and civil society leaders refiled fresh impeachment petitions against Duterte after the one-year bar lapsed. (READ: What’s new in refiled impeachment complaints vs Sara Duterte?)

In this latest impeachment drive, the House justice committee has 60 session days from February 23 to issue a decision on the impeachment bid. – Princess Leah Sagaad/Rappler.com

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