'There's no such thing as zero budget either.' — House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos
The single sharpest fact that made someone stop scrolling is this: former Rep. Kiko Barzaga claimed that the victims of the Mindanao earthquake were given a 'zero budget' because they supported former president Rodrigo Duterte. However, this was immediately debunked by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
And to show just how quickly this was denied, Acting DBM Secretary Kim Robert De Leon announced on the same day that the government had already released an initial P362 million to help the communities stricken by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked parts of Mindanao on June 8.
Aside from the DBM's allocation, a bill filed in the House of Representatives seeks to pass a P15-billion supplemental budget to support relief and rehabilitation efforts in Mindanao.
So, who is Rep. Kiko Barzaga? Rep. Kiko Barzaga was a member of the House of Representatives from the 4th District of Cavite. He was expelled from the House on June 2, 2026, due to his repeated interruption of plenary sessions, mockery of the House leadership, and unauthorized live broadcasts during budget plenary sessions. This is a first in Philippine history for a House member to be expelled from office for disorderly conduct.
Barzaga has a history of spreading disinformation online and his claims often overlap with the Duterte network. The Nerve's analysis of the patterns in Barzaga's posts showed that his content was 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, making his reach go beyond his 1.9 million followers on Facebook.
Barzaga also made a post claiming that there were multiple deaths during the Senate shooting incident in May. He deleted the post after it was debunked by authorities who confirmed that there were no casualties during the incident. Barzaga even posted a video with a caption reading 'Meow Meow Vlog: Senate Assassination Attempt,' claiming that the shooting incident was an unsuccessful attempt to 'kill a few senators to force a change in Senate leadership.'
Key Facts:
• P362 million initial allocation from the Department of Budget and Management for relief efforts • P15-billion supplemental budget proposed for relief and rehabilitation efforts in Mindanao • House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos said 'there's no such thing as zero budget' and debunked claims of General Santos City not receiving Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) • Rep. Kiko Barzaga was expelled from the House on June 2, 2026, for disorderly conduct • The government has sufficient funds to support ongoing relief, rehabilitation, and recovery efforts
This is the latest in a long line of disinformation efforts by Barzaga, which only goes to show just how deeply entrenched the problem of fake news has become in our society.