Edited video misrepresents motives of Philippine vice president's impeachment prosecutors

"Just taking a chance? They're making accusations without evidence!" says overlaid Tagalog-language text on a Facebook video shared on July 23, 2026, as prosecutors laid out their case in the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte (archived link).

The articles of impeachment against Duterte focus on misappropriation of public funds, unexplained assets, bribery of public officials and an alleged death threat against President Ferdinand Marcos and other family members (archived link).

The video shows an exchange between Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Congressman Chel Diokno, a member of the House of Representatives' prosecution panel (archived link).

Cayetano asks what Diokno expects to find by issuing a subpoena for Duterte’s bank and tax files, and Diokno appears to reply by saying: "We’re just taking a chance. We might find something here."

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Screenshot of the false post captured on July 29, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

The video was also shared elsewhere on social media, including by Senator Pia Cayetano -- the Senate minority leader's older sister -- whose post garnered more than 4.4 million views.

The posts appear to echo accusations often levelled by Duterte’s lawyers that prosecutors are engaging in a "fishing expedition", an allegation aired during the first attempt to impeach the vice president in 2025 (archived link).

A coalition of civil society groups have since filed an ethics complaint, arguing her posting of the video puts her impartiality in the impeachment proceedings into question (archived link).

The video spread after the Senate impeachment court granted the prosecution's request to subpoena financial records of 19 companies allegedly tied to Duterte and her husband (archived here and here).

But the video circulating on social media was misleadingly edited to omit Diokno's full remarks.

'Fishing expedition' rebuttal

The full exchange between Cayetano and Diokno can be seen on the Senate's official livestream of the impeachment trial proceedings, broadcast on YouTube on July 20 (archived link). 

The exchange, at the 2:53:43 mark, shows Diokno explaining to Cayetano the difference between a "fishing expedition" and a genuine subpoena request.

Cayetano asks Diokno: "If you're coming to the court with evidence but you're getting the subpoena to further prove your point, I don't think there'll be a question there... But if you don't know what's in those tax records, are we fishing to see if there's tax evasion or none?"

Diokno explained that the House of Representatives and its justice committee could not subpoena the bank documents since only courts are allowed to do this. Instead, the chamber voted on whether there was sufficient cause to proceed with the impeachment case.

The congressman adds: "And to the 'fishing expedition' you're referring to -- we can only say that it happened only if the party requesting the evidence is just taking a chance. 'We might get something here'. In our case, I have to disagree that there is any sort of 'fishing expedition' because, based on what the Committee on Justice and later the plenary of the House found was sufficient, there was enough probable cause to proceed."

Diokno also responded to Senator Pia Cayetano's post with his own Facebook post on July 25, saying the subpoena request was based on records of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that found billions of pesos flowing in and out of Duterte’s bank accounts (archived link).

"We are requesting the bank records so we can see if it matches what the AMLC reports found," he wrote in the Tagalog-language post.

Senator Francis Escudero, who is presiding over the impeachment proceedings, also noted that the prosecution's request was not considered a "fishing expedition" since Duterte’s connection to the firms was established through pre-marked evidence (archived link).

Similar posts were also previously debunked by Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files (archived link).