Facebook (FB) pages and groups imitating the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) uploaded lists of chosen beneficiaries and online registration for the agency’s supposed scholarship program. These are fake.
Uploaded as early as Sept. 30, the bogus posts carried at least three sets of lists bearing names of more than a hundred students who will receive “P7,000 cash allowance” under the program.
They further instruct other applicants to message the publishers to instantly register. Several netizens were duped, with most of them asking how to join and commenting their children’s names in hopes of availing the service.
These pages and groups are not affiliated with the DSWD. The DSWD currently does not have a scholarship program and neither is it conducting an online registration for one.
The lists in the posts show the names of grantees under the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Student Financial Assistance Programs (STUFAPs) instead. Two of the lists were uploaded by the STUFAPs CHED National Capital Region’s FB page last June 19 and July 10.
A DSWD official previously told VERA Files Fact Check that they instead provide educational assistance. (Read Faux ‘DSWD’ page fools netizens with FAKE scholarship announcement)
Working students, children of persons deprived of liberty, and victims of abuse and natural disasters, among others, can avail of their educational assistance under the agency’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program.
Last August, the DSWD also launched their Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, a reformatted educational assistance where financially disadvantaged college students serve as tutors to struggling learners and receive “cash-for-work” to help with their education.
The fake posts circulated the same day the DSWD held a learning session of the Tara, Basa! Program in Marikina City.
The circulating posts also lead netizens to websites with the domain names dswd-ayuda-new-updates.blogspot.com and libreng-ayuda-2022.blogspot.com. VERA Files Fact Check has previously flagged the latter, operated by blogger AXIE, for repeatedly posting fake DSWD announcements.
(Read Impostor DSWD page posts FAKE ‘ayuda’ for registered SIM card users)
Impostor FB pages like DSWD educational cash assistance (created on Aug. 17, 2022 as DSWD DEPED CHED Scholarship), DSWD Scholarship Program (Aug. 12, 2022 as DSWD Scholarship Program 2022) and DSWD P10K AYUDA Registration (Dec. 15, 2021) posted the fake registrations. They were also shared on FB groups such as Fds member and pay out2023/2024 (July 10, 2023 as 4ps pantawid program), LIBRENG PABAHAY PROGRAM (June 7, 2023) and DSWD NEWS AND UPDATE (Dec. 21, 2020). These posts collectively garnered 1,032 reactions, 806 comments and 1791 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.)
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