The ongoing Senate chaos has already birthed incredible lies and opposing stories, yet another false narrative has come to light: that the Senate minority was organizing another coup to pave the way for charter change (Cha-Cha).
From as early as the day Senator Alan Peter Cayetano was elected Senate president, hundreds of Facebook posts traced by data forensics group The Nerve falsely claimed a possible no-election scenario in 2028 to extend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s term via a constituent assembly (Con-Ass). This was bolstered, on the day Senator Bato dela Rosa escaped his International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant, with an old report where President Marcos expressed openness to Cha-Cha.
These claims were being perpetuated by Duterte allies and spread online via supposed news pages without context or verification.
The circulation of these narratives was dubbed a “false flag operation” to distract from current issues, like Duterte ally Dela Rosa’s continued evasion of his ICC warrant and Vice President Sara Duterte’s upcoming impeachment trial.
Chaos triggers false narratives
