FACT CHECK: Senators Aquino, Pangilinan, Hontiveros have passed laws, contrary to claim

Claim: Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and Risa Hontiveros, who are currently part of the 20th Congress, have not passed any laws.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim can be found in a post on January 9 from the account named “Sir Jack Argota”.  As of writing, the post has around 4,700 reactions, 1,700 comments, and 196 shares. 

The facts: Contrary to the claim, Aquino, Pangilinan, and Hontiveros have passed laws in their terms as senators.

The new Senate website, which has been up since November 2025, shows a statistical summary to date of the legislative achievements of each current and previous senator. The information found there includes: (1) Authored Bills, (2) Co-Authored Bills, (3) Authored Resolutions, (4) Co-Authored Resolutions, and (5) Bills Passed into Law.

Here is the information from the website as of writing for each senator, with emphasis on the “Bills Passed into Law” figure:

Aquino

• Authored Bills – 272
• Co-Authored Bills – 70
• Authored Resolutions – 114
• Co-Authored Resolutions – 146
• Bills Passed into Law – 42

Pangilinan

• Authored Bills – 246
• Co-Authored Bills – 97
• Authored Resolutions – 187
• Co-Authored Resolutions – 241
• Bills Passed into Law – 57

Hontiveros

• Authored Bills – 314
• Co-Authored Bills – 124
• Authored Resolutions – 192
• Co-Authored Resolutions – 321
• Bills Passed into Law – 60

Key legislation: As senator, Aquino focused on legislation promoting education, entrepreneurship, and social welfare. He was instrumental in the passage of the Go Negosyo Act, co-authored the Philippine Competition Act, and sponsored the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, which provided free tuition in state universities and colleges. 

Pangilinan’s legislative track record includes the Sagip Saka Act (Republic Act 11321), the 105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Law (Republic Act 11210), and various measures on food security, education, and judicial reform.

Meanwhile, Hontiveros is known for laws promoting public health and the rights of women and marginalized groups. She was the principal author of the Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act, Safe Spaces Act, and Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children Law, among others.

Previous related fact-checks: Rappler has fact-checked various false claims on the performance of legislators as measured by the number of laws passed, examples of which can be found here:

• FACT CHECK: Trillanes did not author laws on driver’s license validity (May 22, 2025)
• MISSING CONTEXT: Imee Marcos authored the ‘Expanded Solo Parents Welfare Act’ (July 6, 2022)
• HINDI TOTOO: Walang naipasang batas si Bongbong Marcos habang senador (November 11, 2021)
• FALSE: Pacquiao did not pass any law in 11 years as legislator (July 13, 2021)
• MISLEADING: Duterte did not pass any law when he was congressman (March 27, 2019)
• MISLEADING: ‘Midterm legislative achievements’ of Aquino, Duterte (March 5, 2019)
• CONTEXT: Jinggoy Estrada ‘filed 600 bills’ in Senate (February 24, 2019)

As for the Facebook account “Sir Jack Argota,” Rappler has published a fact-check of at least one of its claims before: the claim that the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte should be given full credit for the Bucana Bridge project in Davao City. – Percival Bueser/Rappler.com

Percival Bueser is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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