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| - SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Claim: The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released P4.1 trillion of the 2025 national budget to the Office of the President (OP).
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post containing the claim has 2,600 shares, 268 comments, and 805 reactions as of writing. It was posted in a public Facebook group named “PHILIPPINE FEDERAL MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL” with 1 million members.
The post includes a graphic with the text “DBM released 64.9% of the 2025 budget last Jan 31, 2025 to PBBM.”
The post’s caption states: “Ang pondong nagkakahalaga ng 4.1 trillion pesos na tinapyas sa annual budget for 2025 na 6.33 trillion na para sana sa buong taon na gastusin ay nai-withdraw na ng DBM at nailagak na sa Office of the President noon pang Jan 31, 2025.”
(The P4.1 trillion fund, which was cut from the 2025 annual budget of P6.33 trillion intended for the entire year’s expenses, has already been withdrawn by the DBM and placed under the Office of the President as early as January 31, 2025.)
The post also questions why the funds were transferred to the OP instead of the proper government agencies and why this transfer was supposedly not reported, given the petition before the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The post’s caption and accompanying graphic appear to insinuate that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pocketed the funds.
The facts: According to the Status of Allotment Releases report from the DBM, P4.1 trillion out of the P6.3 trillion national budget has already been released as of January 31, 2025.
Contrary to the claim, however, these funds were distributed among various government agencies, not disbursed solely to the Office of the President.
The funds were distributed as follows:
P2.8 trillion (75.9% of the released budget) went to various government agencies.
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P1.19 trillion was disbursed for automatic appropriations, which cover retirement and life insurance premiums, national tax allotment, and interest payments, among others.
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P109.23 billion was disbursed as Special Purpose Funds, which are designated for specific government programs.
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The DBM breakdown does not show that the OP received P4.1 trillion. In fact, the OP’s total budget for 2025 is only P10.5 billion, an amount that is nearly 400 times smaller than the falsely claimed P4.1 trillion transfer.
Alleged budget anomalies: The claim surfaced after senatorial candidate Vic Rodriguez, a former Marcos ally, accused the administration of manipulating the 2025 budget for political gain. Citing 28 blank items worth P241 billion in the 2025 budget, Rodriguez criticized the alleged manipulation of the budget, saying in a Facebook live that this was “illegal, invalid, immoral, unconstitutional, and criminal.” (READ: 2025 budget ‘blanks’: Billions involved in DA adjustments after ratification) – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com
Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is a third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), serving as feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
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