Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte once again understated his salary as the end of his six-year term this June nears. It is at least the sixth time he has done so, based on VERA Files Fact Check’s count.
STATEMENT
During the groundbreaking ceremony for a new sports complex in Bataan, Duterte repeated his call on the police and the military to continue the “momentum” in the fight against drugs, assuring them that he would assume “full accountability” for all acts performed in the line of duty.
In the latter part of his speech, Duterte teased some police officers, saying that he understands the situation of having to divide their salaries between two families”:
“Ngayon, dinoble ko na iyong suweldo nila. Ang suweldo nila maliit eh, hindi magkasya sa dalawang asawa. Alam ko iyan, huwag ninyo akong lokohin. L****. Kasi ako, ang suweldo ko, it’s about 196[,000], 200[,000] iyan eh plus, salary of a president, 190[,000], hatiin ko pa iyan para sa dalawang pamilya.”
(Now, I have doubled the salary [of police officers]. Their salary was low, not enough for two wives. I know that. Don’t fool me. Because I have around P1960[,000] P2000[,000] plus, salary of a president, P1900[,000], I need to divide it between my two families.)
Source: Presidential Communications Operations Office official website, Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Philippine Sports Training Center 6/17/2022, (transcript), June 17, 2022, watch from 16:43 to 17:10
In the same event, the outgoing chief executive said that when his term ends on June 30, he would become an “ordinary citizen” from being a “shining star.”
FACT
Duterte’s monthly salary actually ranges from P388,096 to P399,739. This is based on the fourth and last tranche of the salary adjustment in 2019 for the position of the president, in accordance with Executive Order No. 201, signed by then-president Benigno Aquino III in February 2016.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.
