FACT CHECK: Marcoleta is a senator, not the House speaker

Claim: Senator Rodante Marcoleta is the new House speaker.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: News Update Files, a YouTube channel with over 31,000 followers, posted a video on November 18 claiming that Marcoleta assumed the role of House speaker. As of writing, the video has over 22,000 views, 204 comments, and 1,700 likes.

The video’s title bears the claim, “Big good news! Marcoleta new House speaker? Marcos Jr nilaglag na si Romualdez at Lacson (Marcos has implicated Romualdez and Lacson)?”

Meanwhile, the thumbnail displays a collage photo of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former House speaker Martin Romualdez, and Marcoleta, who is shown signing a document implied to be related to his alleged new role. Text overlaid on the image reads, “New House Speaker! Congrats! Marcoleta.”

The facts: Marcoleta cannot assume the role of House speaker because he is currently a senator in the 20th Congress. A senator cannot be elected House speaker because the Senate and the House of Representatives are two separate chambers of Congress.

Article VI, Section 16 of the Philippine Constitution states that each House shall elect its leaders from its own members. This is also cited in the Rules of the House of Representatives.

The video content itself never stated that Marcoleta became House speaker and did not show any evidence to back up this claim. This mismatch between the title and the actual video content is a common clickbait tactic apparent in similar videos of this nature.

Current roles: The current House speaker is Isabela 6th District Representative Faustino “Bojie” Dy III, succeeding Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez, who resigned as speaker on September 17 amid the ongoing investigations into anomalous flood control projects.

Romualdez, who was among the officials implicated in the scandal, said he stepped down to allow full transparency and accountability in the independent investigation into the flood control corruption allegations. (WATCH: Rappler Recap: Why Romualdez resigned)

Dy was proclaimed as the new House speaker after receiving a total of 253 votes from House members. (READ: Who is Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy, successor of Martin Romualdez as House speaker?)

Meanwhile, Marcoleta is currently the Senate Deputy Minority Leader and chairs the Senate’s trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship committee. The neophyte senator was elected in the 2025 elections, ranking 6th in the senatorial race. (READ: Senator Rodante Marcoleta, the gentleman from Iglesia)

In July, Marcoleta was elected as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which is tasked with high-profile investigations. He was replaced by Senator Ping Lacson in September, following a major Senate leadership shake-up that placed him in the minority bloc. – Princess Leah Sagaad/Rappler.com

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