President Rodrigo Duterte again understated his salary, the fourth time he has done so by VERA Files Fact Check’s count.
STATEMENT
In an Oct. 27 speech during the Masskara Festival in Bacolod City, Duterte said:
“Ang sweldo ko two- 207,000. ‘Yung mga iba diyan tag-milyon milyon mga… Ako ‘yan lang ang ano (My salary is P207,000 while others earn millions, that’s it for me).”
Source: Speech of President Rodrigo Duterte during the 39th Masskara Festival, Oct. 27, 2018, Bacolod City, watch from 44:38 to 44:53
FACT
Duterte’s claim is off by P91,083; since January 2018, he has been receiving P298,083 monthly.
He has previously understated his salary in January and April 2017 by P92,278, and in February this year by P98,083. (See VERA FILES FACT CHECK: How much does President Duterte earn monthly? and VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Duterte understates his salary again)
Duterte’s salary has been increasing since 2016 due to Executive Order No. 201, signed by his predecessor Benigno Simeon Aquino III, which raised the annual pay for all civil servants.
In January 2019, Duterte is expected to receive P399,739 monthly, as the fourth tranche of the modified salary schedule will have been released.
Sources:
Department of Budget and Management, National Budget Circular No. 572, Jan. 3, 2018
Official Gazette, Executive Order No. 201, s. 2016
Official Gazette, Republic Act No. 6758
Official Gazette, Joint Resolution No. 4
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
