Two posts on Facebook (FB) are claiming the country incurred more debt under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos than in the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte. This needs context.
A reader sent a request to VERA Files’ Messenger Misinformation Tip Line to verify a post circulating on social media as early as Jan. 14 and continues to spread this week. It bore the following text:
“[Photo of Duterte] UTANG 7.2 TRILYON, IN 6 YEARS. MAY PANDEMIC AT NAGBIGAY NG 240 BILYONG AYUDA AT KABILAAN ANG PROYEKTO (P7.2 trillion debt in six years. There was a pandemic, gave P240 billion in aid and there were projects everywhere)
[Photo of Marcos] UTANG 15.8 TRILYON IN 3 YEARS. WALANG PANDEMYA, WALANG PROYEKTO, KABILAAN ANG UTANG (P15.8 trillion debt in three years. No pandemic, no project, debt is everywhere)”
According to data published by the National Treasury, the Duterte government ran up more debt than the Marcos administration.
The national government’s outstanding debt more than doubled under Duterte, from P5.94 trillion in August 2016 ballooning to P12.79 trillion by the end of his term in June 2022. His administration added a net total of P6.84 trillion to the government’s total outstanding debt.
By the end of 2024, the national government’s outstanding debt amounted to P16.05 trillion. The Marcos administration contributed a net total of P3.26 trillion to the country’s sovereign debts.
The P15.8 trillion debt figure in the misleading post is from the National Treasury’s October 2024 report on the country’s financial obligations. It includes the unpaid debts accumulated by past administrations, not just the current government alone.
Last year, during the 2025 budget deliberations, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said that the country’s outstanding debt remained high as borrowings made by the previous administration during the pandemic are still being paid.
“In 2019 when the country achieved its lowest debt-to-GDP ratio, the total nominal debt was only P7.7 trillion, but this figure nearly doubled to around P13.4 trillion right after the pandemic just as the Marcos Jr. administration took over,” he said.
The online post continued to go viral following Duterte’s renewed allegation during the proclamation rally of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan that Marcos is addicted to illegal drugs, a week after the House of Representatives impeached his daughter and Vice President Sara Duterte.
FB page Marcela Agoncillo (created on July 12, 2010) made the erroneous post, garnering over 19,000 reactions, 7,900 comments and 99,000 shares. It was republished as a video by an FB user and received over 15,300 reactions, 5,700 comments, 7,400 shares and 1.4 million views.
