Stock market operator Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) broke its silence to completely debunk what it said was misleading information on the bourse index’s massive fall from the start of the flood control projects scandal, suggesting it was meant to “provoke investors to lose confidence.”

“PSE would like to set the record straight once and for all on the true and correct market capitalization (MCAP) data of the listed companies in the PSE. A post on 10 October 2025 on social media by a pseudo-expert on the stock market advanced the preposterous claim that ‘the PSE has lost up to P5 trillion in market capitalization since December 2024’,” it said in a statement.

The false data resulted from highlighting the total market capitalization rather than the domestic figures.

“Deliberately comparing apples to oranges by comparing Domestic MCAP to Total MCAP is dishonest, if not malicious, and is clearly meant to provoke investors to lose confidence in the Philippine capital market and destabilize the economy.”

PSE tracks two types of MCAP — domestic and total. Domestic MCAP includes the capitalization of Philippine companies whose primary listing is at the PSE. Total MCAP, on the other hand, contains Domestic MCAP plus the MCAP of foreign companies dually listed in the PSE.

According to PSE, the dually-listed companies are the Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC) (traded on the Toronto, Hong Kong, New York and Philippine stock exchanges); Sun Life Financial Inc. [SLF] (traded on the Toronto, New York and Philippine stock exchanges); and Del Monte Pacific Ltd. [DELM] (traded on Singapore and Philippine stock exchanges).

“Since only less than 1 percent of the outstanding shares of MFC and SLF and less than 5 percent of DELM are lodged for trading in PSE, PSE uses Domestic MCAP data as the MCAP reference number since it more accurately captures the performance of the stock market.”

Domestic MCAP is down by P273.26 billion or 1.88 percent year-to-date far less than what was quoted earlier that was based on the total MCAP.

It should have been fact-checked

PSE’s statement indicated that “Unfortunately, this fake news was irresponsibly published on the same day and reposted the following day in an online tabloid that is known for prioritizing sensationalism that will generate clicks and engagements over providing news that has been fact-checked or verified, a minimum prerequisite required of legitimate journalists in this era where fake news is readily accepted as gospel truth.”

On Thursday, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Secretary Frederick Go dismissed as fake news reports that P1.7 trillion in market value was wiped out from the Philippine Stock Exchange due to corruption scandals, as claimed by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Francis Lim.

“Unfortunately, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman was quoting off a confirmed fake news socmed (social media) post designed to catch attention and falsely sensationalize the attributed source,” he said in a press briefing at the Palace.

“This has been confirmed as fake news and did not come from them.”

Go’s remarks came a day after Lim, in his speech at the 57th FINEX Conference, warned that corruption, particularly in the flood control project scandal now under independent probe, has eroded investor confidence.

He later clarified that the stock market drop was far smaller than what was claimed.

The country, Go said, has not lost any investments due to the corruption issue, noting that “pledges continue to come in.”

PSE expressed confidence that its statement “will put an end to fake news about trillions lost in PSE’s MCAP this year.”