A viral post claims that the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose after Vice President Sara Duterte announced Feb. 18 her intention to run for president in 2028. This is misleading.
Financial experts and analysts quoted in various reports attribute PSEi’s rise to bargain hunting, improved risk appetite and investor optimism following the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) latest rate cut, not to Duterte’s declaration of her presidential bid.
An FB user posted the index’s line chart screenshot on Feb. 19 with a misleading caption:
“PagkaAnnounce ni Inday Sara Duterte ng kanyang Presidential Bid.
Alam ng Bansa! ALAM NG MUNDO!
Matatapos na kayo mga Hutang Hina Nyo
(When Inday Sara Duterte announced her presidential bid.
The whole nation knows! The whole world knows!
You will be finished, you sons of b*tches).”
The dip in the chart was encircled and annotated with a misleading text overlay to suggest that the stock price rose after Sara Duterte’s announcement of her presidential run.
Using reverse image search, the benchmark line graph came from TradingView, a financial charting platform and social network “used by traders and investors worldwide to spot opportunities across global markets.”
Regina Capital Development Corp. sales head Luis Limlingan was quoted in the Feb. 19 INQUIRER.net and BusinessWorld reports attributing PSEi’s rise to bargain hunters “taking advantage of attractive valuations” and “weighing [the latest BSP rate cut’s] potential to support liquidity and market sentiment.”
“The move helped improve risk appetite at the margins despite lingering concerns over subdued growth forecasts, allowing the benchmark to finish in positive territory,” Limlingan said.
Philstocks Financial research manager Japhet Tantiangco was also cited in a Feb. 20 Manila Bulletin report after noting that “the local market’s advance was fundamentally driven by this transition in the central bank’s stance.”
“Other positive factors for the PSEi include the narrower balance of payments data, which helped improve sentiments,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said in a Feb. 21 post on X (formerly Twitter).
In a Feb. 19 monetary policy press briefing, the BSP announced its decision to reduce its policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%. This marks the sixth consecutive reduction in the current easing cycle, bringing the benchmark rate to its lowest level in over three years.
BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. explained during the briefing that their decision “should help to restore confidence, boosting investment and consumption.”
“The pace of economic recovery will depend on how quickly confidence returns,” he added.
As of writing, the misleading post published by Facebook user Darryl Yap has received over 19,000 reactions; 1,100 comments; and 1,500 shares.
