FACT CHECK: No Supreme Court order expelling Abante from House

Claim: The Supreme Court ordered the expulsion of Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr. from the House of Representatives. 

Rating: FALSE 

Why we fact-checked this: The claim, posted on February 16, has already received 25,000 reactions, 6,900 comments, and 1,300 shares as of writing. 

The post shows photos of Filipino-Chinese businesswoman Cassandra Ong, Vice President Sara Duterte, Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Ting, and several Supreme Court justices. 

The text on the photo reads, “Korte [nagdesisyon] na may biglaang hatol kay Abante? [Pinatalsik] sa Kamara?”

(The Court has decided, issued a sudden verdict for Abante? Expelled from the House?) 

The caption says, “The decision came so quickly that it shook the inner workings of the game, raising suspicions and putting immense pressure on who is ultimately responsible, and why the doors of justice suddenly slammed shut in such a mysterious way.” 

The facts: Abante has not been expelled from Congress. He remains listed as a House member on the lower chamber’s website. In fact, the lawmaker, together with Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega, recently endorsed the fourth impeachment complaint against the Vice President on February 18. 

Article VI, Section 16 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that it is the legislative chamber that has the exclusive power to “determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members, suspend or expel a Member.”

There is also no Supreme Court ruling ordering the removal of Abante as a member of the House of Representatives. In a fact check article on February 2 debunking a similar claim, Vera Files reported that while the High Court cannot expel a House member, it has judicial review power to determine if the expulsion violated the Constitution. 

Duterte critic: Abante is a known Duterte critic. In November 2024, Abante sharply criticized former president Rodrigo Duterte during the public hearing of the House quad-committee, holding him accountable for the extrajudicial killings in his administration’s brutal drug war.

Abante also called out the Vice President in September 2024 for skipping the House of Representatives hearings on her office’s budget. 

Midterm elections: Abante initially lost to his rival, Luis “Joey” Chua Uy, during the local midterm elections in 2025. However, the Commission on Elections 2nd Division annulled Uy’s proclamation over citizenship issues.

The commission officially proclaimed Abante as the duly-elected representative of Manila’s 6th District on July 8, 2025, after the issuance of the certificate of finality and entry of judgment on the disqualification of Uy. 

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has previously debunked similar false claims about public officials being expelled from office: 

• FACT CHECK: Sandro Marcos remains House majority leader; no SC ruling against him 
• FACT CHECK: Mere orders of Marcos, Sara can’t expel Makabayan bloc from Congress 
• FACT CHECK: No Marcos order expelling Padilla from Senate 
• FACT CHECK: Dela Rosa not expelled from Senate 
• FACT CHECK: Binay not expelled from Senate 
• FACT CHECK: Padilla not expelled from Senate over alleged info leak 
• FACT CHECK: Zubiri not expelled from Senate 
• FACT CHECK: Raffy Tulfo not expelled from Senate 

– Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com 

Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. 

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