FACT-CHECK: Vice Ganda did not call Sen. Chiz Escudero a ‘corrupt politician’

CLAIM: Vice Ganda called Chiz Escudero corrupt during the “It’s Showtime” game segment on Oct. 24.

RATING: FALSE

A YouTube channel uploaded an eight-minute commentary video with a caption falsely claiming that noontime show host Vice Ganda had explicitly called Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero a “corrupt politician” during one of its segments.

Flagged content: The YouTube channel, “Blind Item University,” uploaded a commentary video bearing a thumbnail that directly accuses celebrity Heart Evangelista’s husband, Senator Escudero, of being corrupt.

• The thumbnail text read: “KORUPT ANG ASAWA MO!” (“Your husband is corrupt.”) It included a collage of pictures in the background that showed pictures of Vice Ganda, Evangelista crying, and Escudero coupled with an unfinished building. 
• It bore a title that said: “🔥VICE GANDA ISINIWALAT ANG PAKIKITULONG SA PAARALAN NI HEART! SINABING CORRUPT SI CHIZ ESCUDERO?🔴. (sic)” (“Vice Ganda revealed a donation in Heart’s school! Said that Chiz Escudero is corrupt?”)

What really happened: The image of Vice Ganda was screen-captured from a game segment, “Laro Laro Pick,” during the noontime show’s Oct. 24 episode.

• In the same segment, Vice Ganda explained the reason why Gloria, the jackpot round player, needed the P400,000 prize the most. It quickly prompted Vice Ganda and her co-host, Anne Curtis, to talk about Vice Ganda’s experience when they went to Evangelista’s hometown, Sorsogon during an outreach activity.
• Vice Ganda said, “… may pinuntahan akong lugar, sa lugar nila [Heart] Evangelista na isang paaralan na walang reading materials.” (“I once went to a place, in Heart Evangelista’s hometown, where a school does not even have reading materials.”)
• The host criticized government officials and their wives and families for having the best time of their lives while their constituents are suffering.

Our debunk: Although Vice Ganda pointed to a specific school in Evangelista’s hometown, the hosts did not mention Escudero by name in the entire segment, or the whole duration of the episode. The episode, with a total run time of one hour and 19 minutes, can be viewed for free online on YouTube and iWant.

• Days after the episode aired, Bulusan mayor Wennie Rafallo-Romano released an official statement, claiming Evangelista had no connection to the issue. Romano shared the exact donation received from Vice Ganda, and explained that even before Vice Ganda came and gave the donation, the Department of Education had provided classrooms and reading materials.
• In the last part of the statement, Romano mentioned Escudero as an “active supporter” of education in Bulusan. 

Rewind: Evangelista had been dragged into the flood control mess involving her husband, Escudero, who is accused of accepting campaign contributions from public works contractors behind substandard or “ghost” flood control projects.

• Escudero is from a political family in Sorsogon. From 1998 to 2007, he was the representative of the province’s first district. He became a senator from 2007 to 2019. After that, he became governor of Sorsogon from 2019 to 2022.
• In 2022, he returned to the Senate under the ticket of President Rodrigo Duterte. Escudero became the Senate president from May 2024 to September 2025.
• Following allegations of corruption in flood control projects, Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III replaced Escudero on Sept. 8.

Why we fact-checked this: Showbiz personalities who use their platform in calling out the government are also vulnerable to public ridicule and disinformation in the guise of showbiz updates.

• Disinformation peddlers can use them as a tool to bait viewers into a hate campaign against the personality based on false and distorted claims.

Spot the fake: Verify a narrative in a suspicious video content by backtracking to the full video episode from which the narrative was taken. 

• Verify the credibility of a YouTube channel by checking the channel’s information and videos since its creation. Dhayshel Tinoy

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