FACT CHECK: FB Post Claiming Sara Duterte-Carpio Is First Incumbent Mayor Elected As VP Is False

Claim: In a Facebook post, former newscaster Jay Sonza claimed that vice president-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio will be the first incumbent mayor to sit as the Philippines’ second highest official. 

“1st in Philippine Election. History is made. First incumbent City Mayor to be elected Vice President,” Sonza said in his post on May 26, accompanied by a photo of Duterte-Carpio being proclaimed as the country’s next vice president after being proclaimed by Congress, sitting in as the National Board of Canvassers. 

Rating: False

Facts:  Duterte-Carpio is the second incumbent mayor to be elected as vice president. The first one was former vice president Jejomar “Jojo” Binay.  

During the 2010 elections, Binay was the incumbent mayor of Makati City. Binay was appointed as officer in charge of the city by former president Corazon Aquino in 1986. He was then elected as mayor in 1988 and held the position until 1998. He was again elected as Makati mayor for three consecutive terms – from 2001 until 2010 – the year he won as vice president. 

Binay ran alongside former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada in the 2010 polls. Estrada lost to then senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. 

While Sonza’s claim that Duterte-Carpio is the first incumbent mayor to be elected vice president is false, he was correct that the vice president-elect earned 32,208,417 or 61.53 percent of the total votes for the position — the most for any candidate, be it national or local, who ran in the 2022 polls.

Duterte-Carpio’s ran with presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.,  who garnered 31,629,783 or 58.77 percent of the votes for the presidency, according to the official results tallied by the National Board of Canvassers.  

Why it matters:  Sonza’s post has garnered 3,200 likes and reactions, 86 comments and 84 shares as of this writing since it was first posted on May 26.