Once again, this fake news site struck again with a claim that the Supreme Court has postponed the 2022 presidential elections unless the election protest for the vice presidency gets resolved.
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On June 7, Okd2.com published an article with this headline, “No Presidential Election on 2022 unless Marcos-Robredo case is resolved, SC says.” As of writing, the post has been shared over 1,300 times.
It was also shared by some netizens on their Facebook pages and to support pages such as “(vf)DDS/Diehard Duterte Supporters,” “President Duterte V.P Marcos Worldwide Supporters,” “Rody Duterte for President Movement International,” “Pro Marcos-Duterte International (ProMDI),” “OFW Global Movement – Abudhabi UAE Chapter,” and “OFW4DU30 Global Movement Association and Cooperation International.”
You might have noticed how Facebook user Raden A. Payas was so persistent in sharing the Okd2 article to several Duterte support pages. This is not the first article from Okd2 that we’ve noticed him share to several support pages on Facebook.
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Payas even noted this in his caption, “Dalawa lang ang pwedeng mangyari. Either extend and term ni Duterte or maging bisi presidente si Bongbong…”
According to Okd2.com, Marcos has asked the Presidential Election Tribunal, being performed by the Supreme Court, to expedite his protest hearing against Robredo. However, SC’s decision reportedly stunned many when it released a single-page resolution on June 7, which said:
“All pending cases must be resolved so the people can choose freely without any doubt.”
Robredo’s camp was understandably shocked by the SC’s ruling. Okd2.com once again mentioned Vice President’s alleged lawyer, Atty. Regina Fernandez, whose identity we could not verify. The article said that Fernandez said that they will use “all legal remedies” to make Robredo the next president in 2022.
Okd2 further wrote, “The decision issued by the Supreme Court is expected to get mixed response from both Duterte and Marcos critics, but the Congress has no plan to question the SC’s decision. The congress, though House Secretary Divina Gracia said the house is full with so many things and will not deal with the SC regarding election concerns.”
It added, “The SC also said that the cancellation of the 2022 general elections will give COMELEC enough time to find replacement for Smartmatic, which had been the subject of all cheating during the past and previous elections.”
However, there were no credible reports about the Supreme Court’s decision to “cancel” the 2022 elections. What we found, though, are reports about how the SC has reset the preliminary conference on the Marcos-Robredo electoral protest from June 21 to July 11. Marcos’ camp said they understood the urgency in scheduling the oral arguments on the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, set for June 13 to 15, but they do not see why it is necessary “to further delay an equally important case that likewise involves public interest.” Robredo, on the other hand, said that while she also wanted to have the case resolved sooner, she understood the urgency behind tackling the President’s martial law declaration.
The story was likely made up by Okd2.com just like what it did to the other fake stories before this one. Moreover, their claim about the SC making the decision to cancel the 2022 election does not add up.
The Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines showed that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) may decide to postpone the election only with this condition.
Sec. 5. Postponement of election. – When for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any political subdivision, the Commission, motu proprio or upon a verified petition by any interested party, and after due notice and hearing, whereby all interested parties are afforded equal opportunity to be heard, shall postpone the election therein to a date which should be reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect.
The postponement can only be done in case of “violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature” and only after a verified petition, notice and hearing were conducted. Moreover, the election has to be re-scheduled “not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect.”
The next elections in 2022 is still five years away, so the circumstances cited above could not be applied to the upcoming presidential elections.
Even the move to postpone the barangay elections from October 31, 2016 required a law passed through Congress and signed by President Duterte for it to happen. Duterte himself wanted to stop the barangay elections to stop drug lord-backed candidates will not win. On October 18, Malacaang revealed that the President has signed the law postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October 23, 2017.
We have not found any Regina Fernandez acting as Robredo’s lawyer and claiming that the Vice President’s camp are using all available legal measures to make Robredo the next president. We als could not find a certain Divina Gracia as the “House Secretary,” but lawyer Cesar Pareja was chosen as the new House Secretary General.
So, no, Okd2.com came up with another fake story when it claimed that the SC has decided to postpone the 2022 elections because nothing of the sort happened and a new law might be needed for it to happen. As per its disclaimer, the website “cannot guarantee the legitimacy of some of the information contributed” to them.
Sources: ( rappler.com , chanrobles.com , philstar.com , congress.gov.ph )
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