FACT CHECK: Davao City received funds from nat’l government under Marcos admin

Malacañang said Davao City received national government support for programs and projects, citing data from the budget department

AT A GLANCE

• A claim that Davao City did not receive any funds from the national government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been rated as FALSE.
• Malacañang confirmed that Davao City received a total of P53.11 billion in national tax allotment and other allocations from 2022 to 2026, contradicting the claim.
• Davao City’s representative, Paolo Duterte, clarified that his comments referred specifically to a lack of congressional district allocation, not the overall funding from the national government.

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Claim: Davao City did not receive any funds from the national government under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: A Facebook page named “Wing Jusayan Vlog” posted the claim on August 22. The post featured images of Marcos and Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte.

Text overlaid on the graphic reads: “Davao City survived without funds in 4 years, why are you looking for the project that was not funded by government? The worst part inangkin nyo ang project na hindi naman sa inyo (you took credit for the project that wasn’t yours).”

As of writing, the post garnered over 11,000 reactions, 2,300 comments, and 5,400 shares. Similar posts bearing the same claim are also circulating online. Several commenters, believing the claim, further asserted that Davao City has good leadership and governance while shaming the national government for supposedly withholding funds.

The claim appears to stem from Duterte’s comments that the city allegedly received no funding from the national government for years.

The facts: Davao City received yearly funding from the national government, according to Malacañang, citing records from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). 

In a statement, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that Davao City and its barangays received a combined P53.11 billion in national tax allotment (NTA) and other national government allocations from fiscal years (FY) 2022 to 2026, as reported by the Philippine News Agency on September 4. This contradicts the misleading posts’ claim that Davao City received “no funds” over a four-year period.

Of that total, approximately P41.63 billion went directly to the city government, while P11.17 billion was the combined NTA of the city’s barangays. There was also an additional P314.48 million that came from releases under the General Appropriations Act.

Malacañang, through Castro, had previously refuted similar allegations during a May 25 press briefing, explicitly denying claims made by Duterte that the city received zero funds from the national government.

Castro presented an official statement from the DBM that said Duterte’s claim “is not supported by the national government’s released data.”

The DBM records, according to the Palace press officer, show that from FY 2023 to 2026, as of  May 17, Davao City received at least P7.856 billion in total national government financial support for its programs and projects. This includes national tax allotment, special shares, fire code fees, and regular operating requirements.

Moreover, Castro said that the P7.440 billion came from identified national government agency programs and projects for health, education, infrastructure, and transport modernization projects.

In addition to regular national funding allocations, Rappler also reported that Davao City held the largest confidential budget among all local government units (LGUs) in Southern Mindanao for 2023 and 2024, amounting to P1.06 billion. 

Lack of context: On September 6, Duterte clarified that he was specifically referring to the alleged lack of congressional district allocation. In an interview and report by GMA News Online, Castro explained that her refutation of Duterte’s claim was made in response to specific inquiries regarding “the NTA allotment, her assessment of the claim that Davao City had received no funds from the national government, and whether there were pertinent records to support the claim.”

Under Article X, Section 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, local government units are legally guaranteed a just share of national government revenues, which must be automatically released directly to LGUs.

Debunked: Rappler has debunked a similar claim associating the supposed non-release of government funds to political reasons. – Lyndee Buenagua/Rappler.com

Lyndee Buenagua is journalist based in Baguio and Bicol, and an alumna of Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2024.

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