A week-old Facebook (FB) page made two false claims in one post — that Senator Franklin Drilon “blocked” a bill seeking to increase the salary of government employees and that President Rodrigo Duterte had already signed said bill into law.
Pinoy Trending Today, a page that describes itself as a “video creator” posted Dec. 18 ssegments of the Dec. 16 Senate session on Senate Bill No. 1219, or the Salary Standardization Law of 2019.
In the clip, Drilon can be seen questioning and proposing an amendment to the bill. The FB page captioned the video with:
“DRILON HINARANG ANG SALARY INCREASE NG MANGAGAWA, BUT PRESIDENT DUTERTE SIGNED IT (Drilon blocked the salary increase for workers but President Duterte signed it anyway)!
He says “it would adversely affect the government resources”. But it’s better that the money goes to the people and not to the pockets of the senators and congressmen due to corruption.
GOOD NEWS TO PARA SA MANGAGAWANG PILIPINO NA ITAAS NG SAHOD (This pay hike is good news for Filipino workers).”
This post is false twice over.
First, Drilon did not block the salary hike for government employees. On the contrary, he even asked for an additional increase.
The 10-minute video lifted from the nearly two-hour Dec. 16 session of the Senate shows Drilon during the period for individual amendments, spliced with his explanation for his vote on the third and final reading of the Salary Standardization Bill.
Only Drilon abstained from voting for or against the bill. The 21 other senators approved and no one voted against it. Drilon explained that he abstained because the salary increases are not enough to “respond to the needs of government workers.” His proposal to add a 5% “across the board” increase to 33 government salary grades had been voted down early in the session. He, however, said he did not cast a negative vote because he did not want to be seen opposing the pay increase.
Second, Pinoy Trending Today, which uses a picture of President Rodrigo Duterte for its profile photo, also falsely claimed that Duterte had already signed SB No. 1219. No media outlets nor the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson have reported the signing of the bill.
The Salary Standardization Law of 2019 is the fifth round of government salary increases under the Duterte government. If signed, the proposed version will be implemented over four years starting 2020 and will cost the government P130.45 billion. It will cover select civilian government personnel in the three branches of the government. The measure will increase basic salaries with a 23.24% weighted average upon completion in 2023. The bill has been certified as “urgent” by Duterte.
Pinoy Trending Today’s misleading post surfaced a day after the House of Representatives also approved its version of the salary standardization bill on Dec. 17.
The page’s misleading post has already gained 2,800 likes and reactions with 2,100 shares on Facebook.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
