FACT CHECK: Marcos didn’t say earning P96 a day means Filipinos aren’t poor

While the P96-per-day threshold comes from actual statistical data, there are no reports that show Marcos saying it Claim: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that people who make P96 a day are not considered poor. Rating: FALSE Why we fact-checked this: Facebook user David Dodong posted a supposed quote card of Marcos bearing the claim. The quote reads, “Kapag kumikita ka ng 96 pesos kada araw ay hindi ka na maituturing na mahirap.” (If you earn P96 a day, you can no longer be considered poor.) While the post garnered only 204 reactions, 210 comments, and 33 shares, multiple commenters believed the claim. Meanwhile, some criticized Marcos’ mental state. One Facebook user said that Marcos should experience life among the poor and see if P96 is enough. Similar versions of the quote card have also been circulating online. The facts: No official records or statements say that Marcos uttered these words. The fake quote was an altered version of another trending post that carried the claim while lacking context. Source of the claim: Facebook user Panda Reports posted the same statement with Marcos’ photo, but attributed the quote to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev). The post had more than 430,000 reactions, 45,000 comments, and 67,000 shares as of writing. In the comments section, the post author linked a video of Kamanggagawa Party-list Representative Eli San Fernando as the claim’s source. In the video, however, he asked for people’s reactions to the P96-per-day baseline. Poverty threshold: The number came from the PSA’s 2025 poverty statistics, which showed the national poverty threshold at P35,121 per person a year, or about P2,927 a month. Per day, the threshold is approximately P96. The PSA defines the poverty threshold as the minimum income or expenditure needed to meet the basic food and non-food requirements such as education, housing, health, clothing, and more. A family or individual earning slightly more than that would no longer be considered poor, even if it means little room for savings, emergencies, or a good quality of life. Current poverty statistics: In an August 24 statement, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said that Marcos had ordered the government to “support the middle class and prevent 6.5 million Filipinos from sliding back into the zone of poverty.” However, Marcos, the PSA, and DEPDev did not mention or suggest that P96 a day is enough to maintain a comfortable and decent lifestyle. As 28% of Filipinos live just above the poverty line, a big blow to one’s lifestyle — like job loss, price spikes, or natural disasters — might just be what it takes to push them back under it. The same poverty statistics showed that the number of Filipinos living below the poverty threshold fell from 17.5 million in 2023 to 11.08 million in 2025. As a result, nearly 6.5 million Filipinos have been lifted out of poverty. – Eirene Manatlao/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. How does this make you feel? Loading