VERA Files
A YouTube video falsely claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared martial law after a Chinese vessel fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard supply boats near Ayungin Shoal on Aug. 5.
This is not true but a clickbait to a video showing several senators condemning China’s attack.
First uploaded on Aug. 8, the 22-minute video carried the headline:
“CHINA NAGULAT SA MARTIAL LAW! GRABE PRES BBM! LALABAN NA TAYO! LAST WARNING SA WPS! BUOMUNDO (sic) UMALMA. (China was shocked with Martial Law! Amazing, President Bongbong Marcos! We will fight! This is the last warning on the West Philippine Sea! The whole world objected.”
At the start of the video, the narrator said: “Breaking news. China natakot sa bantang idedeklara ni Marcos ang Martial Law isang beses pang may mabomba sa Pilipinas (China scared of Marcos’ threat to declare martial law once the Philippines gets bombed again).”
The president has not declared martial law in any part of the country.
The clickbait video contained spliced clips of senators Robinhood Padilla, Bato dela Rosa, Koko Pimentel, Joel Villanueva, Bong Go, Bong Revilla and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri criticizing China during a plenary session on Aug. 7.
Among them, it was Sen. Padilla who floated the idea of imposing martial law to address Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea. A known advocate of constitutional revision, Padilla called to restore the phrase “imminent danger” as grounds for martial law declaration. He said at the 2:12:17 mark:
“Meron po tayong isang probisyon sa ating Konstitusyon na dapat ito talagang amyendahan at dyan po ay patungkol sa pagdedeklara ng martial law. Doon po sa 1973 Constitution malinaw doon na sinasabi yung imminent danger. Dito po sa 1987 Constitution tinanggal po iyon. (We have a provision in our Constitution that we need to amend and that is about the declaration of martial law. In the 1973 Constitution, imminent danger is clearly stipulated. In the 1987 Constitution, it was removed.)”
Records from the Senate journal show that none of the other senators present in the session explicitly supported or echoed Padilla’s statement.
Martial law can only be declared by way of a presidential proclamation.
Originally posted by YouTube channel Boss Balita TV with 341,000 subscribers, and reuploaded by BALITA NI JUAN with 47,700 subscribers, the video currently has a total of 107,796 views. Both channels were previously fact-checked for spreading false claims involving the West Philippine Sea.
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