FACT CHECK: Claim of ‘zero budget’ for Mindanao quake victims is false

Claim: No budget has been allotted to help victims of the June 8 earthquake in Mindanao because they are Duterte supporters.  

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Former Cavite 4th District representative Kiko Barzaga made a post on June 18, stating, “Yung mga biktima ng lindol sa Mindanao ginawang Zero Budget dahil Pro-Duterte sila! Salamat Taxpayers! #CrocodileFarm.”

(The earthquake victims in Mindanao were given zero budget because they are pro-Duterte! Thanks, taxpayers! #CrocodileFarm)

The post has since garnered over 22,300 reactions, 20 comments, and 1,800 shares.

Barzaga’s Facebook page has over 1.9 million followers and has been consistently posting pro-Duterte and anti-Marcos content.

The facts: The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) already released an initial amount of P362 million on June 18 to help communities stricken by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked parts of Mindanao on June 8.

“The P362 million we released is only initial assistance. The government continues to have sufficient and readily available funds to support ongoing relief, rehabilitation, and recovery efforts in areas affected by the earthquake and other calamities,” Acting DBM Secretary Kim Robert De Leon said.

Aside from DBM’s allocation, a bill filed in the House of Representatives also seeks to pass a P15-billion supplemental budget to support relief and rehabilitation efforts in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos earlier debunked claims that some areas received no funding for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), explaining that it is impossible for any locality to receive zero budget.

“There’s no such thing as zero MOOE. There’s no such thing as zero budget either. That’s impossible,” Marcos said when asked about reports that General Santos City did not receive MOOE.

The House leader also denied claims that General Santos City residents were unable to access government aid programs.

Barzaga’s false claims: This is not the first time Barzaga has spread disinformation online. In May, he also spread false information claiming that there were multiple deaths during the Senate shooting incident.

Although he deleted the post, many Duterte supporters had taken screenshots of the claim and shared it across various social media platforms to amplify it. Authorities debunked the rumors, confirming that there were no casualties following the Senate shooting.

After the shooting incident, Barzaga also posted a video with a caption that read, “Meow Meow Vlog: Senate Assassination Attempt.” He claimed that the shooting incident was an unsuccessful attempt to “kill a few senators to force a change in Senate leadership.”

Barzaga has a history of “shitposting,” which often overlaps with the Duterte network. The Nerve’s analysis of the patterns in Barzaga’s posts shows that “they were funneled by different users into specific online groups and communities, including pro-Duterte communities and niche, non-political spaces such as buy-and-sell and engagement-farming groups,” allowing his content to circulate far beyond his follower base.

Barzaga’s House expulsion: Barzaga was expelled from the House on June 2, 2026, due to his repeated interruption of plenary sessions, mockery of the House leadership, and unauthorized, slanderous live broadcasts during budget plenary sessions.

“Representative Barzaga engaged in a pattern of highly disruptive, discourteous, and disorderly behavior that directly obstructed plenary sessions and desecrated parliamentary solemnity,” ethics committee chairman JC Abalos said.

Prior to his expulsion, Barzaga was twice placed under 60-day suspension orders. Barzaga is only the second House lawmaker in Philippine history to be expelled from office. – Reinnard Balonzo/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. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.