FALSE: Rowena Guanzon said “The peso is weak because BBM is high”

A Facebook post attributes the statement “The peso is weak because BBM is high” to former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) commissioner Rowena Guanzon, amid the Philippine peso’s depreciation against the US dollar in October 2026.

CLAIM:

The post claims that Guanzon said, “The peso is weak because BBM is high,” in reference to the peso’s decline.

RATING:

FALSE

CONCLUSION:

Guanzon’s reported remark was that the peso was weak because the president was weak, not because “BBM is high.” The Facebook post misquotes her and strips her November 2025 statement of its original context.

THE FACTS:

• On November 12, 2025, the Philippine peso closed at ₱59.17 per US dollar, breaking its previous record low of ₱59.13 set on October 28, 2025. It hit an all-time intraday low of ₱59.262.
• The next day, Guanzon reportedly criticized President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in a social media post and mocked the explanation of his son, Ilocos Norte Representative Sandro Marcos, for the peso’s weakness. In October 2022, Sandro Marcos said, “The peso is not weak, because the peso is weak. The peso is weak because the dollar is strong.” Guanzon reportedly said, “Sabi ni Sandro, the peso is weak because the dollar is strong. Sakin naman, the peso is weak because the president is weak.”
• Nearly a year later, the peso kept sliding. It closed at ₱63.615 per US dollar on October 23, 2026, and reached ₱64.025 as of October 28. Elevated global oil prices, strong demand for the dollar, geopolitical tensions, and domestic economic pressures have contributed to the decline.
• The November 2025 quotation does not match the wording in the Facebook post. None of the sources reviewed show Guanzon saying, “The peso is weak because BBM is high.”

BOTTOMLINE:

Guanzon’s remark was a November 2025 political jab at President Marcos, mocking his son Sandro’s claim that the peso was weak because the dollar was strong. It was not a comment on the peso’s October 2026 decline, and she did not say “The peso is weak because BBM is high.”