A video on YouTube claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos and the Senate sentenced to death France Ruiz, a former employer of a domestic helper who accused the family of maltreatment and physical assault. This is false.
Neither the Senate nor the president can do that, as Republic Act 9346 banned the imposition of the death penalty in the country in 2006.
On Sept. 24, a YouTube channel published the video with this clickbait headline:
“KAKAPASOK LANG Bagong utos PBBM at SENADO B-tay ang hatul kay France Ruiz Hinatulan ng Taong Bayan!
(Just in. New order from [Marcos] and the Senate. France Ruiz was sentenced to death by hanging. Condemned by the public!)”
During the 18-minute video, the video narrator offered no material related to the claim that the president and senators passed a “new order” officially putting Ruiz on the death row. Instead, the video showed comments from social media users calling for the death of the former employer of househelp Elvie Vergara.
The death penalty was abolished in 2006 and replaced by life imprisonment as maximum punishment. Several bills seeking to reinstate capital punishment for heinous crimes were filed in the past and current Congress but they remained only at the committee level.
(Read VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Death penalty NOT reinstated)
The Senate probe on the alleged abuse of 44-year-old Vergara is still ongoing.
Pablo Ruiz, spouse of France Ruiz, was recently detained and held in contempt after it was revealed that the Ruiz couple failed their polygraph tests before the Senate committee hearing on the case. France Ruiz was similarly detained last week for lying under oath.
The untrue video emerged amid the Senate investigation into the reported abuse experienced by Vergara while working for the Ruiz family.
YouTube channel PINAS NEWS INSIDER published the video, garnering over 5,700 likes, 1,130 comments and 241,000 views.
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