| schema:text
| - SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Claim: The Office of the Ombudsman suspended House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe for falsifying the 2025 national budget.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post bearing the claim has garnered 3,700 shares, 2,700 reactions, and 750 comments as of writing. Similar posts have been shared to Facebook groups of up to 153,000 members.
“The Ombudsman has requested the suspension of Mannix Dalipe and three other lawmakers for falsifying the 2025 budget,” the headline for the post reads. The same statement is plastered across an attached photo of Dalipe, along with the words “Bida bida ka (You’re a show off)!”
The rest of the post’s caption talks about how former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and his group of complainants filed a motion for preventive suspension against House Speaker Martin Romualdez, former appropriations committee chair Elizaldy Co, and the current chair Stella Quimbo.
The facts: The Office of the Ombudsman has not announced through its website or official Facebook page that it has decided on the complaints filed by Alvarez’s group. As of writing, no media outlets have reported further action from the Ombudsman either.
Dalipe, through his official Facebook page, also denied the post’s claims. “I challenge my political detractors and opponents to prove that the Office of the Ombudsman requested that I get suspended,” he wrote.
While Dalipe has not been suspended, as falsely claimed in the headline of the misleading post, the rest of its caption is true. Alvarez’s group did file a complaint on February 10 accusing Dalipe and other House leaders of falsifying legislative documents related to the 2025 budget. In response, Dalipe issued a statement calling the complaint “politically motivated attacks meant to discredit the House leadership.”
The same group of complainants then sought the preventive suspension of the accused lawmakers on February 19, arguing that their high positions would give them the power to influence witnesses, tamper with evidence, and perjure testimony.
2025 budget controversy: The complaints filed by Alvarez and his allies are based on the blank spaces in the approved bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 budget. (READ: 2025 budget ‘blanks’: Billions involved in DA adjustments after ratification)
Former president Rodrigo Duterte and Davao City 3rd District Representative Isidro Ungab pointed out these alleged irregularities earlier in January. While administration allies explained the blanks by saying that the signed report still needed final fixes from technical staff, Alvarez’s group said the P241 billion supposedly inserted into the budget was not a “petty or frivolous” concern for it to be reduced to a mere correction.
Previous fact-checks: Rappler has debunked other false claims about the 2025 budget:
FACT CHECK: Alice Guo did not urge Hontiveros to probe 2025 budget ‘blanks’
-
FACT CHECK: Chiz Escudero not suspended from Senate
-
FACT CHECK: PhilHealth member benefits to continue despite zero subsidy in 2025
-
FACT CHECK: Sara Duterte’s OVP confidential fund not from Office of the President
-
FACT CHECK: Sri Lanka envoy visit to OVP not linked to 2025 budget hearing
-
– Shay Du/Rappler.com
Shay Du is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)