7 hours ago
3
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Already have Rappler+?
to listen to groundbreaking journalism.
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 2006 via Republic Act No. 9346, and it has never been reinstated
Claim: Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez will be sentenced to death by hanging for his alleged role in irregularities in the 2025 national budget.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 429,900 views, 15,500 likes, 1,450 shares, and 716 comments as of writing.
Text in the video states: “Bitay ang hatol sa kaso ni Romualdez Marcos. Lagot mga Marcos. Senators at Marcos supporters, magtago na kayo sa lungga niyo. Ganti ng Team Duterte.”
(Romualdez Marcos has been sentenced to death by hanging. The Marcos family is doomed. Senators and Marcos supporters, go hide — this is Team Duterte’s revenge.)
The video also shows a screenshot of a GMA News report with the text “Dahil sa 2025 nat’l budget (because of the 2025 national budget)”.
The facts: No Philippine court has sentenced Romualdez to death by hanging over alleged irregularities in the 2025 national budget. The post merely uses a GMA News clip about a motion filed with the Ombudsman seeking the preventive suspension of Romualdez and other House officials for allegedly falsifying legislative documents.
Moreover, the death penalty has been abolished in the Philippines since 2006 under Republic Act No. 9346, and no law has reinstated it, making such a sentence legally unlikely.
Budget irregularities: Romualdez and other House leaders face graft and falsification complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman on February 10, 2025. The petitioners claimed P241 billion was unlawfully inserted into the 2025 national budget by filling in 12 blank line items before the General Appropriations Act was signed. (READ: 2025 budget ‘blanks’: Billions involved in DA adjustments after ratification)
The petitioners also sought the preventive suspension of Romualdez and three other lawmakers to prevent possible evidence tampering or witness influence. (READ: [In This Economy] Who filled in the blanks in the 2025 budget?)
However, in a ruling dated March 7 but released on March 11, Ombudsman Samuel Martires denied the plea to suspend Romualdez, stressing that his office has no authority to suspend members of Congress.
The Ombudsman also held the criminal complaints in abeyance pending the Supreme Court’s decision on a petition questioning the constitutionality of the 2025 budget. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com
Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU). An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow of Rappler for 2025, she is also the feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
How does this make you feel?
Loading
