WHY THIS MATTERS
Claim: Broadcast journalist Karen Davila said former senator Antonio Trillanes IV spent millions to hire “overpriced” consultants, which reportedly includes his houseboy and family driver.
Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
Why we fact-checked this: Several posts containing the claim have been circulating on Facebook since the start of July, with the most popular one gaining 706,000 views, 17,000 reactions, and 11,000 shares.
In the video, Davila is shown making the following statement: “Etong si Senator Trillanes, sinasabing malinis siya, pero napatunayan ng Commission on Audit siya ang may pinakamaraming consultants. P1.6 million a month ay napunta sa sweldo ng 63 consultants, kung saan kabilang ang family driver niya, ang houseboy, mga ex-mutineer friends. Overpriced ang consultants, pati ang mga kapatid niya. Overpriced din kayo sa budget, it’s higher by P506,000.”
(Senator Trillanes claims to be clean, but the Commission on Audit has proven that he has the highest number of consultants. A total of P1.6 million a month went toward the salaries of 63 consultants — including his family driver, his houseboy, and friends who were former mutineers. The consultants were overpriced, including his own siblings. The budget is also overpriced; it’s higher by P506,000.)
Other social media posts using this clip show a photo of Trillanes or the faces of vloggers reacting to Davila’s supposed statement.
The facts: The video of Davila was taken from her January 2016 interview on DZMM with then-senator Trillanes, who at the time was gunning for the post of vice president in the 2016 elections.
In the original interview, the journalist was asking Trillanes to respond to allegations made by then-Vice President Jejomar Binay’s camp. It begins with Davila saying, “Inakusahan kayo ng kampo ni Binay…” (The Binay camp has made these accusations against you) and ends with “Anong sagot niyo po dun?” (What is your response to these allegations?)
These portions were removed from the misleading clips circulating online, making it appear that the allegations came from Davila rather than from Binay’s camp.
In the same interview, Trillanes responded by saying the Commission on Audit (COA) report was indeed factual, but added that employing a large number of consultants was not illegal. He also denied claims that his houseboy and drivers were included in his consultancy payroll.
COA report: In a statement in August 2015, Trillanes said COA had already cleared his office on the consultancy issue, and had not issued any notice of disallowance regarding the matter.
“In fact, the Senate has already met with COA, and it was concluded that there is nothing illegal with the senators’ consultancy services expenses,” he said.
The issue had erupted amid Trillanes’ probe into the corruption allegations against the Binays as a member of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee back in 2015. He claimed some of the consultants were hired as confidential agents related to the Senate’s investigation regarding alleged anomalous contracts, deals, and projects involving the then-vice president.
Sara Duterte impeachment: The misleading clip began circulating ahead of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, where Trillanes has been listed as a possible witness for both the prosecution and defense.
Several false claims about outspoken Duterte critics like Trillanes and other key actors in the impeachment proceedings have gone viral in the past month. Rappler has debunked such claims:
- FACT CHECK: No SC order junking current impeachment proceedings vs VP Sara
- FACT CHECK: No new impeachment complaint vs Marcos sent to Senate
- FACT CHECK: Audio clip of Marcos ordering cases vs minority senators is AI-generated
- FACT CHECK: No DOJ, SC order to stop Duterte impeachment; trial ongoing
- FACT CHECK: VP Sara’s counsel Sheila Sison not the daughter of lawyer Jose Sison
– Shay Du/Rappler.com
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