MISSING CONTEXT: Robredo biggest spender among VP candidates in 2016 elections

At a glance

• Claim: Vice President Leni Robredo is a hypocrite for saying that elections should be won on good governance rather than money, as she was the biggest spender among the vice presidential candidates in the 2016 elections.
• Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
• The facts: Although Robredo was indeed the top campaign spender among the vice presidential bets in the 2016 elections, she did not overspend. Vice presidential candidates were allowed to spend P10 per registered voter, or a total of P543.6 million. Robredo only spent P418.664 million.
• Why we fact-checked this: “Lugaw Chronicles” has a history of sharing disinformation. The page has 1,031 likes and 4,831 followers so far.

Complete details

A post uploaded on November 7 by Facebook page “Lugaw Chronicles” shows an infographic originally posted by CNN Philippines in reference to the campaign expenses of the vice presidential candidates in the 2016 elections. “Lugaw Chronicles” highlighted Vice President Leni Robredo as the top spender. 

This infographic was placed beside a photo of a quote attributed to Robredo during her keynote address in the graduation rites of the third installment of the Leaders for Excellence and Public Service (LEAP) Mayors’ Fellowship Program in March 2020. She said elections should be won by delivering good governance, not by spending huge amounts of money. 

In the post, “Lugaw Chronicles” calls out Robredo for supposedly not walking her talk. 

This post lacks context.

While it is true that Robredo was the biggest spender among the vice presidential candidates, the claim left out the detail that neither she, nor any of the other candidates, actually overspent, since vice presidential bets in the 2016 elections were allowed to spend P10 per registered voter, or a total of P543.6 million, according to Section 13 of Republic Act No. 7166.

Robredo spent P418,664,130.60, over P100 million less than the spending limit.

No official probes into Robredo’s supposed overspending during the 2016 vice presidential campaign period have been conducted. Data obtained from the Commission on Elections by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism showed that only 54 out of 44,603 candidates in the 2016 national elections went over the prescribed campaign spending limits. Robredo was not part of the 54.

“Lugaw Chronicles,” the source of the post, claims to be a satirical page, but it frequently uploads content that paints Robredo as dumb or a hypocrite. – Niña Diño/Rappler.com

Niña Diño is a Rappler Mover. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor.

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