MISLEADING: Sara Duterte claims law doesn't require that senators be honest

Presidential daughter Sara Duterte claimed on Saturday, March 9, that the law does not require senators to be honest.

She appeared to be referring to the 1987 Constitution, which lists down criteria that must be met for a person to run for senator.

“Ang importante is ano yung required ng batas. Ano ba sinasabi ng batas for a senator? Able to read and write, natural-born citizen. Does it say na dapat good moral character yung tao? Does it say the person has to be honest? Kaya sinabi ko kung honesty ang pagbasehin natin, disqualified lahat,” she said in an interview with reporters.

(What’s important is what is required by the law. What does the law say for a senator? Able to read and write, natural-born citizen. Does it say they must have good moral character? Does it say the person has to be. honest? That’s why I said if honesty is the basis, all the candidates are disqualified.)

This is false.

The requirements Duterte mentioned are indeed all that is listed in Section 3, Article VI of the Constitution which has to do with qualifications to serve as senator.

But the Constitution, which is considered the country’s foundational law, also explicitly states that public officials, which include senators, must be honest and must have good moral character. This is mentioned in two articles, Section 27 of Article II and Section 1 of Article XI.

Read the full fact-check article on Rappler.com.

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