A Facebook post is claiming that senator-elect Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III will file a bill lowering the early retirement age to 39 years old. This is false.
Published on June 22, the FB page’s post carried a photo of the former senate president with the headline:
“Sotto itutulak early retirement bill sa mga 39-anyos! (Sotto to push an early retirement bill for those aged 39)
Part of the lengthy caption read:
Isasampa niya sa pagbubukas ng 20th Congress sa Hulyo ang panukala para makapag-retiro na ang mga empleyado kahit 39-anyos pa lamang.”
(He will file the bill when the 20th Congress opens in July so employees can retire even at 39 years old.)
A news report that appeared in tabloid Abante was used as source for the post. The article falsely reported that Sotto talked about his plans to file an early retirement bill during an interview with radio station DWIZ on June 21.
It also quoted the incoming senator as saying that based on his team’s research, 30% of the country’s labor force is in favor of lowering the early retirement age which is currently pegged at 60.
There is no record of such an interview with Sotto. Neither is there any study that can be searched to back the results of an alleged research on the preferences of Filipino employees on early retirement.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.