FACT CHECK: Imee Marcos did not resign from Senate

Claim: Senator Imee Marcos resigned from the Senate.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video containing the claim has 30,668 views, 1,000 likes, and 164 comments as of writing. It was uploaded on June 16 by a channel with 117,000 subscribers.

The video’s title bears the claim: “OMG: Kinarma na! Imee gumawa ng ingay nag-resign na / Palasyo pugad ng kawatan kumpirmado PBBM.”

(OMG: Karma struck! Imee made a fuss, has already resigned. Palace is a nest of thieves, PBBM confirmed.)

The facts: The title and thumbnail of the YouTube video are clickbait. The video neither discussed the claim nor provided any evidence regarding Marcos’ supposed resignation.

Marcos remains on the list of senators of the 19th Congress. There are also no official statements released by the Marcos camp or any news reports about her alleged resignation.

Last May 23, Marcos took an oath before the Supreme Court as a new member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal, alongside her colleagues JV Ejercito, Nancy Binay, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, and Robinhood Padilla. 

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Marcoses and the Dutertes: The video only highlights the senator’s remarks last May, which were seemingly directed at her brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claim that the previous Aquino and Duterte administrations had done nothing to rehabilitate areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) more than 10 years ago. 

In a May 24 press release, Senator Marcos refuted her brother’s claim and acknowledged the help of then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte and other individuals and organizations in the aftermath of Yolanda.

The senator had previously affirmed her staunch alliance with the Dutertes. In 2023, she spoke up to support former president Duterte who had allowed a hero’s burial for her father in 2016, and endorsed her inclusion in the PDP-Laban’s senatorial slate in 2019. Marcos recently reiterated her all-out support for Vice President Sara Duterte after the latter resigned from the Marcos Cabinet. (READ: Everything you need to know about Sara Duterte’s resignation from the Marcos Cabinet) 

Marcos siblings: This is not the first time that Senator Marcos openly criticized her brother’s policies and statements, indicating an apparent rift between the siblings.

In 2022, Senator Marcos initially opposed the Maharlika wealth fund. She also joined a protest in September 2023 calling for the resignation of her brother’s then-finance chief, Benjamin Diokno, due to his economic policies. 

Critics, however, dismiss the senator’s supposed opposition to the Marcos administration as a publicity stunt for her political agenda. – Shane Cameron/Rappler.com

Shane Cameron is a Rappler intern. She is studying Development Communication at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

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