Rating: TRUE
Why we fact-checked this: Presidential candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson tweeted in July 2021: “After the earthquake, I couldn’t sleep thinking that our national debt has ballooned to P11.07T. Each one of us is now in debt by P100K.”
An article from trending balita.online and pinoytrendingnews.net (https://pinoytrendingnews.net/on-lacsons-tweet-each…/), which came on August 2021, however, surfaced in most Facebook pages of a presidential candidate and garnered new comments on the matter.
The facts: From their “news articles,” they quoted pro-Marcos Jr. blogger and radio host Mark Lopez saying that Lacson’s tweet is “agitprop or agitation propaganda.” Lopez said that the tweet lacks context, and “ang sole purpose lang is gimbalin ang taumbayan at palabasin na super lubog na tayo sa utang.”
Lopez cited President Duterte’s infrastructure program as the reason for the high debt. “Ito ay panloloko at panlilinlang sa taumbayan, na kaya lang gawin ng isang politiko na wala talagang malasakit sa ating kapakanan. This does not deserve our vote,” Lopez added.
The Bureau of Treasury said that the country’s outstanding debt was P11.73 trillion in 2021. In 2020, the debt was P9.8 trillion, BTr said (https://www.philstar.com/…/philippines-debt-grows-20….)
Read the full story on The Baguio Chronicle.