FACT CHECK: Lordan Suan did not say VP Sara is ‘unwelcome’ in Cagayan de Oro

A viral social media claim stating that Cagayan de Oro 1st District Representative Lordan Suan declared Vice President Sara Duterte “not welcome” in the city has been debunked as false. Claim: Cagayan De Oro 1st District Representative Lordan Suan said Vice President Sara Duterte is “not welcome” in Cagayan de Oro. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: The post was made by a personal account in the Facebook group “SARA DUTERTE SUPPORTERS,” which has a member count of more than 500,000 users. The post has gained more than 2,300 reactions, 1,500 comments, and 500 shares as of writing. The quote card cites a supposed statement by Suan, in which he allegedly says, “Unta dili na mubusita si VP Sara sa CDO labi na sa District 1 kay dili siya welcome diri.” (I hope VP Sara doesn’t visit CDO, especially in District 1, because she is not welcome here.) Similar posts with the same graphic also surfaced across other community Facebook groups. An alleged deleted interview with a snippet of Suan’s statement also circulated online. Social media users were quick to criticize the congressman, calling him a sellout and a “minion” of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Others left comments criticizing Suan and affirming their loyalty to the Dutertes. The facts: Suan did not make the statement about Duterte. The lawmaker’s office, through Political Affairs Officer 6 Joel Torres, confirmed in a Viber message to Rappler on July 1 that the circulating post is fake. “We strongly deny that statement. Isa na naman po itong false information (This is another case of false information). CLS [Congressman Lordan Suan] has never made such a statement,” said Torres. AI-generated: The alleged deleted interview snippet is AI-generated. Results from the AI detection tool DetectAI show that it scored a 69% likelihood that it was generated using AI. HiveModeration also flagged the video as suspicious, with the audio scoring 99.2% likelihood that it was artificially-generated. Suan’s involvement in Duterte’s impeachment: Suan is among the 11 prosecutors named by the House of Representatives for Duterte’s upcoming impeachment trial. The congressman and Bicol Saro Representative Terry Ridon are the two new members of the House impeachment prosecutors, with the others returning from last year’s aborted impeachment case. Suan was among the representatives of the lower house who voted for Duterte’s impeachment in February 2025, and again in May 2026. He explained that he voted to impeach the vice president as no one is above the law, and that this was part of the legal process for accountability. Duterte’s impeachment trial is set to start on July 6. She is accused of misusing public funds, accumulating ill-gotten wealth, and making death threats against the President. (READ: Pre-trial order for Sara Duterte trial is out. Here’s what it does and does not contain.) Debunked: Rappler has repeatedly debunked previous claims revolving around Suan: FACT CHECK: Quote card of CDO congressman Suan on gas prices is fake FACT CHECK: Quote card of CDO congressman Suan criticizing OFWs is fake FACT CHECK: Cagayan de Oro congressional bet Lordan Suan has not been disqualified FACT CHECK: Viral quote card of CDO congressman on Sara impeachment fake FACT CHECK: CDO congressman Suan’s quote on Tacloban shooting is fake – Lourence Angelo Marcellana/Rappler.com Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at [email protected]. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.