FACT CHECK: No SC ruling yet on Marcos health disclosure petition

Claim: The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a verdict on the petition seeking to compel President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to disclose his medical condition.

Rating: FALSE 

Why we fact-checked this: The post bearing the claim was uploaded on Facebook on May 1 and has already received 1,200 reactions, 337 comments, and 141 shares as of writing. 

It shows a photo of Marcos, Vice President Sara Duterte, and SC officials, including Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo. The text on the photo reads, “Hinatulan si Junior. Nag-leak na medical records sa Korte.”

(Junior has been sentenced. Medical records have been leaked in the Court.)

Text on the lower part of the composite photo reads, “VP Sara new president. Korte Supreme naglabas ng ultimatum (Supreme Court issues an ultimatum).” 

Another YouTube video, posted on April 30, shows the same graphics and claim. It has already received 62,322 views and 4,400 likes as of writing.

The video’s commentator claims that Marcos is about to take a drug test soon, citing various news reports of a petition seeking the SC to compel him to disclose his health status.

The facts: The SC has not issued its decision on the petition asking the President to reveal his medical records. In a press briefer on April 22, the SC only ordered the President and Executive Secretary Ralph Recto to comment on the said petition.

“The SC, without necessarily giving due course to the petition, directed respondents to comment within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of notice,” the press briefer reads. 

Rappler has previously debunked a similar post misrepresenting the petition as an order from the SC.

Health disclosure petition: The false posts stemmed from a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, along with Virgilio Garcia, Juan Raña, and Raymundo Junia.

The petition sought to direct Marcos to submit himself to physical and mental examination, including a hair follicle drug test. It also sought the disclosure of the President’s medical report, including “medical and clinical confirmation of his physical and medical fitness to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency.”

Malacañang said it would comply with the SC order, even as it maintained that Marcos was in good health. Earlier, both Marcos and the Palace had publicly denied rumors of the President supposedly facing severe health conditions. (READ: Amid health rumors, can the SC force Marcos to disclose medical records?)

Misused photo: The photo of Gesmundo used in the post has nothing to do with the present petition before the SC. 

Reverse image search shows that the photo was originally taken in February 2025 during the signing of an usufruct agreement between the SC and Bulacan State University for the new Hall of Justice in Malolos City, Bulacan. 

Previous fact-checks: Rappler has previously fact-checked similar false claims about Marcos’ health: 

• FACT CHECK: No reports of Marcos in critical condition at the hospital 
• FACT CHECK: No Marcos resignation petition received, online posts are fake – SC 
• FACT CHECK: No Supreme Court order on mandatory drug test for Marcos 
• FACT CHECK: Marcos is alive; no evidence of a body double exists 
• FACT CHECK: Marcos is alive; post misuses old news report on hospitalization

– Angelee Kaye Abelinde/Rappler.com 

Angelee Kaye Abelinde is a student journalist based in Naga City, and an alumna of Rappler’s Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship 2024. 

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.