Online registrations for the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) supposed scholarship program this year are being shared on Facebook (FB). These are fake and from publishers not affiliated with the agency.
Uploaded as early as Feb. 10, the posts carry different graphics meant to entice students into registering for the supposed monetary assistance under different levels. One of the posts carried the logo of DOLE’s National Labor Relations Commission and the text:
“DOLE SCHOLARSHIP 2024.
Elementary – 3,000 Monthly
Highschool – 5,000 Monthly
College – 8,000 Monthly
REQUIREMENT
SCHOOL ID CARD
REGISTER NOW!!”
Other posts claim that DOLE is offering a P30,000 allowance. Netizens are directed to a website where they are asked to fill out a form collecting personal information and attach their I.D. and school credentials “for fast approval.”
These are bogus. In a Feb. 23 advisory, DOLE Calabarzon (Southern Luzon) debunked the circulating posts, saying they are unauthorized.
“This is to warn the public about a false post circulating online claiming that DOLE is offering a P30,000 scholarship allowance open to all levels. This information is completely false and unauthorized. DOLE does offer various scholarship programs, but the details and eligibility criteria for each program differ,” a portion of the statement read.
DOLE offers scholarship grants for officers and members of workers organizations’ officers, including their dependents, under their Workers Organization Development Program. It provides monetary assistance for the scholars’ completion of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, review classes for board examinations and technical-vocational programs.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, an attached agency of DOLE, also offers scholarships for qualified dependents of Overseas Filipino Workers.
DOLE Calabarzon advised the public to get legitimate updates from its official website and social media pages.
The FB posts carried links that either led to an e-commerce site or to a website (libreng-ayuda-2022.blogspot.com) that has a history of posting fake online registrations and job hirings. (Read Circulating ‘TUPAD hiring’ posts BOGUS, NOT from DOLE)
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked other bogus scholarship registrations. (Read Circulating ‘SSS scholarship’ online applications are FAKE)
The posts circulated days after DOLE expressed willingness to provide Congress technical inputs on the proposed Senate Bill No. 2534 that increases the minimum wage for the private sector by P100. The Bill has been approved on third reading and sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence. (Read P100 wage hike bill NOT yet law)
The posts were shared in various FB groups and pages collectively garnering 20,244 interactions, according to CrowdTangle. These were uploaded on FB groups like 4P’S & DSWD ALL REGION UPDATE PAY OUT 2023-2024 (created on Dec. 8, 2023 Landbank 4ps update), 4P’s UPDATES AND PAY OUT SCHEDULE (June 11, 2023) and 4PS ALL REGION (Jan. 17, 2023 as 4PS GROUP CHAT).
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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.)