A quote card of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio that shows her saying she can spend her offices’ confidential funds in an hour or minute if she wants, is spreading on Facebook (FB). Several readers asked VERA Files Fact Check to look into it.
The graphic is fabricated.
Bearing the logo of Sonshine Media Network Inc. (SMNI) News, the hoax quoted the vice president as saying on Sept. 25:
“So what if I spent my 125 million pesos confidential funds in 19 days or 11 days as what the COA said? I can spend it in an hour or in a minute if I want to. That money is intended for my office and I can spend it the way I want it to be spent. By its nature it’s CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS and you have no business scrutinizing what is confidential.”
Duterte-Carpio did not say this. No media outlets published such a remark attributed to the vice president.
VERA Files Fact Check has reached out to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for comment but has not received a response as of publishing.
In a Sept. 27 tweet, SMNI News strongly disowned the graphic and called it “fake news.” It also warned hoaxers that it will take legal action against those who misrepresent or use its social media materials without authorization.
The circulating graphic altered an SMNI News quote card from last month.
VERA Files Fact Check has debunked other fabricated statements attributed to Duterte-Carpio.
(Read Sara Duterte did NOT say there’s no need for quality education in public schools)
The fake quote card circulated as Duterte-Carpio and her office faced scrutiny after lawmakers pointed out that the OVP spent P125 million in confidential funds in 19 days.
In a Sept. 27 statement, the House committee on appropriations said it will realign the P650 million confidential and intelligence funds sought by the OVP and Department of Education for 2024 to augment the budget of intelligence and security forces.
The graphic was shared by FB groups such as Leni2025 (created on May 11, 2023) and Concerned Citizens: Crusade Against Corruption For Good Governance CAC4GG (July 18, 2023), pages like Real Talk Bai (June 18, 2013 as Jobs Exchange) and Aling Marie (June 30, 2020 as Aling Marie FB Page) and other FB netizens. The posts collectively garnered 1,305 interactions.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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