FACT CHECK: Ace Barbers did not say Trillanes would top senatorial race

The former lawmaker did not say Trillanes would top the senatorial race; he urged the public not to ignore the evidence Trillanes presented in Sara Duterte’s impeachment proceedings A social media post falsely claims that Robert 'Ace' Barbers stated Antonio Trillanes IV would be the top senatorial candidate if he runs, citing his popularity among Filipinos. The claim was fact-checked and found to be false, as there are no recent statements from Barbers supporting this assertion. Barbers' actual comments focused on Trillanes' financial disclosures related to Vice President Sara Duterte, not on Trillanes' potential candidacy. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. Claim: A social media post claims that former Surigao del Norte 2nd District representative Robert “Ace” Barbers said former senator Antonio Trillanes IV would be the number 1 senatorial candidate if he runs as he is loved by the Filipino people. Rating: FALSE Why we fact checked this: The post was published by a Facebook account named Prettylove Lara in the “SARA DUTERTE SUPPORTERS” group, which has 612,150 members as of writing. Its caption read, “Let’s see in 2028 we are democracy let’s go 🤣,” followed by several hashtags. The post features a quote card bearing the photos of Barbers and Trillanes, alongside the statement: “Kung tatakbo ng senador si Trillanes magiging number 1 siya dahil mahal siya ng sambayanang Pilipino.” (If Trillanes will run for the Senate, he will be the number 1 senator because the Filipino people love him.) As of writing, the post has 520 reactions and 766 comments. The same quote card has also been circulated in other Facebook groups, particularly those supporting the Duterte family. The facts: No recent statements made by Barbers contain the quote attributed to him in the post. Instead, his recent remarks about the former senator was about the evidence and financial disclosures Trillanes presented in relation to the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte. On October 2, Trillanes held a press conference where he presented information on financial transactions involving Duterte, her husband Manases Carpio, and companies linked to them. Barbers said the disclosures deserved serious attention, noting that some of the transactions identified by Trillanes had been independently corroborated through official records, including records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). Barbers also said Trillanes had originally been included in the prosecution’s witness list for the impeachment trial. Trillanes later withdrew from the witness list, but Barbers said this did not invalidate documents and other records that could independently support portions of the financial trail he presented. The quote in the Facebook post, however, was nowhere in Barbers’ recent statements or in the video cited by the post. There is also no indication in these statements that Barbers said Trillanes would be the number 1 senatorial candidate or that he was “mahal ng sambayanang Pilipino.” The post therefore attributes to Barbers a statement he did not make.– Mark David Silencio/Rappler.com Mark David Silencio is an Information Technology student at Bulacan State University in Plaridel, Bulacan. An Aries Rufo Journalism Fellow for 2026, he is also the managing editor for Administration of Pacesetter. 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