FACT CHECK: Marcos administration’s cash aid not worth P9 trillion

Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s P9-trillion cash aid for Filipinos is being talked about already.

A YouTube video’s title in Filipino carries the claim and adds this text also in Filipino: “Incredible 9 trillion pesos project of President BBM”

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video containing the claim has 43,818 views as of writing. 

The facts: The Marcos administration is set to release a P1,000 cash aid to each of 9.3 million households as the inflation rate continues to rise. This translates to assistance of only P9.3-billion – far from the exaggerated trillions being claimed. 

During a Malacañang briefing last March 7, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno announced the administration’s plan of releasing the cash aid. 

Still far from P9 trillion: In the same briefing, Diokno also mentioned that the said cash aid, alongside other targeted cash transfers, will amount to P26.6 billion.

Not the cash aid: The video bearing the false claim about the administration’s cash aid failed to prove its claim and instead featured the National Economic Development Authority’s (NEDA) press briefing in Malacañang last March 9 about the 194 infrastructure projects of the Marcos administration. It is the projects, and not the cash aid, that amount to a total of P9 trillion. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.