FACT CHECK: No, Malabon congressman Oreta did not slam Sara Duterte’s travels

Malabon City Lone District Representative Lenlen Oreta did not make such a statement, according to his office’s email response to Rappler. It added that public conversations should be based on verified information and reliable sources.

AT A GLANCE

• Malabon City Representative Antolin Oreta III did not make a statement criticizing Vice President Sara Duterte's travels to The Hague, contrary to claims circulating on social media.
• Oreta's office confirmed that the attributed quote is false and emphasized the importance of verified information in public discourse.

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Claim: Malabon City Lone District Representative Antolin “Lenlen” Oreta III pointed out Vice President Sara Duterte’s multiple travels to The Hague, Netherlands while bringing up President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s modernization plan for the Philippines.

Rating: FALSE 

Why we fact-checked this: The quote attributed to the congressman was posted on Facebook on August 5 by Malabon Standard, which has 10,000 followers.

The post has already garnered more than 43,000 reactions, more than 14,000 comments, and 376 shares as of this writing, alleging that Oreta said: “Puro kasi pagpunta sa the Hague ang inaatupag ni VP Sara habang si PBBM gumagawa ng paraan para sa modernization ng bansa.” 

(VP Sara is busy flying to The Hague while PBBM is doing the work for the country’s modernization.)

The quote has also been reposted across various social media platforms, including Instagram.  

The facts: Oreta did not issue such a statement as confirmed by his office in an email to Rappler on September 30. 

“We would just like to clarify that the statement currently being attributed to Rep. Lenlen Oreta is not supported by any verified source or official record. Rep. Oreta has not made such a statement in any interview, speech, Facebook Live, or other official recording,” his office said.

“We believe that public conversations should be based on verified information and reliable sources, especially when statements are being attributed to a public official,” it added. 

Rappler previously fact checked a false statement attributed to the congressman from the same Facebook page. In such a post, Oreta allegedly wished for Sara Duterte’s death. This has since been labeled by Meta and Oreta himself as false information. 

As of this writing, Oreta still has not flagged the August 5 post as false information. 

Oreta was one of the 257 lawmakers who voted for Duterte’s second impeachment. In 2019, he was threatened with arrest by Sara’s father then-president Rodrigo Duterte over the drug problem in Malabon. 

Personal trip: While Oreta did not criticize the vice president’s trips abroad, another lawmaker has expressed statements relating to this. 

On July 22, Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr. criticized Duterte’s personal trip to five countries Qatar, Germany, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, and The Netherlands from July 16 to July 31, amid her impeachment trial. Abante added that Duterte’s travel abroad is “betrayal of public trust.” 

The Vice President is on trial for her alleged death threats against high-ranking Philippine officials, including Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House speaker Martin Romualdez, alleged misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and alleged bribery of public officials. – Eunicito Barreno/Rappler.com

Eunicito Barreno is a 2026 Aries Rufo Fellow. He is a senior journalism student at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where he is also a news staffer at the Philippine Collegian, the university’s official student publication.

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