As the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte entered its 24th day, a post went around in Facebook claiming that expenses had reached P600 million since the hearings began on July 6. This is false.
A pro-Duterte page published the post on Sept. 14 with the caption:
“600 MILLION. Yan ang presyo ng inggit at pamumulitika nila kay VP Sara. Hindi pa tapos yan, aabot pa ng BILYON yan. Para saan? Para lang matanggal ang kalaban nila sa 2028. Hindi taumbayan ang panalo dito, mga pulitiko lang. Hindi accountability yan, KATANGAHAN SA PERA NG BAYAN yan. 24 days x 25M = 600M.
(600 million. That is the cost of their envy and politicking against VP Sara. And it’s not over yet; the figure will reach billions. For what? Just to eliminate a rival for the 2028 elections. The public is not winning here, it’s the politicians. That isn’t accountability, it’s stupidity involving the people’s money. 24 days x 25 million = 600 million).”
The fabricated graphic also carried the text:
“Ika-24 days na ngayon sa impeachment (ngayong Sept. 14) = 24 x 25M = P600 MILLION. (It’s the 24th day of impeachment this Sept. 14 = 24 x 25M = P600 MILLION).”
The Senate has not released a statement or financial records to validate such claim on impeachment expenses.
The post apparently based its computation on a statement by Senate President and former chairman of the finance committee Sherwin Gatchalian. In a June 2 press briefing, he mentioned that the Senate spends P25 million a day in operating expenses. This was when the impeachment court could not meet for lack of a quorum as the then majority members were refusing to attend.
“Every day, ang Senate gumagastos ng P25 million sa kuryente, sa utilities, sa sweldo,” he said Gatchalian, citing wasted resources due to the deadlock sparked by the controversial attendance to a session of Sen. Ronald de la Rosa who had been absent due to an impending arrest order on him.
Gatchalian did not say the figure refers to expenses for the impeachment trial. The last time he discussed the topic was on July 16, when he said no additional expenses will be incurred by the Senate while conducting the impeachment proceedings. In a DZRH interview, he stressed that the prosecution and the defense spend for their own food, internet use, and printing expenses.
Senator-judge Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson has said on April 28 that there was still P22.6 million out of the original P27.5 million from the 2025 budget earmarked for the impeachment hearings.
“There’s still around P22.6M out of the original P27.5M budget under the 2025 GAA (General Appropriations Act) available for the impeachment trial to feed and quench the thirst of both the prosecution and defense teams, their support staff and witnesses and for other impeachment related activities,” he said in a post on X.
The dubious post by FB page Kaganapan sa Pulitika (created March 2020) has garnered 2,300 reactions, 266 comments, and 537 shares.
