A fabricated graphic that circulated on Facebook (FB) this week claiming 30 cities and provinces in the country will be placed under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 30, “effective immediately,” is false.
The following areas included in the list were the municipality of La Trinidad, the cities of Baguio, Dagupan, Tuguegarao, and Manila; the provinces of Abra, Aklan, Bataan, Batangas, Benguet, Bulacan, Cagayan, Cavite, Iloilo, Isabela, Laguna, Masbate, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan, Pampanga, Quezon, Rizal, Romblon, Tarlac; and the entire Ilocos and Davao regions.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the management of emerging infectious diseases only classified these places under Alert Level 3 status following the recent surge of COVID-19 cases after the holidays:
- the National Capital Region (NCR), from Jan. 3 to 15;
- the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal, from Jan. 5 to 15; and
- Laguna province, from Jan. 7 to 15.
The falsified image, which started circulating on Jan. 4, also used the logos of GMA News, GMA Public Affairs, the now-defunct GMA News TV, and the Department of Health (DOH).
The DOH, in their official FB page, has denounced the graphic and warned netizens to be careful in sharing information related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
GMA News also refuted the circulating untrue graphic the same day and said in a statement on FB that it did not produce such a report.
The fake image circulated a day after Bulacan, Cavite, and Rizal were placed under Alert Level 3. NCR’s classification status was heightened from Alert Level 2 to 3 on Dec. 31, 2021, and Laguna on Jan. 5.
The fake graphic was published by at least 6 FB users and the FB page Burgos Mdrrmo. It has collectively garnered more than 233 reactions, 77 comments, and 1,212 shares.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
