A Facebook page (FB) pretending to be affiliated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) posted an announcement that the agency is giving away free housing to poor Filipinos and all they have to do is register through the page. This is fake.
The supposed online registration was posted on July 26 by the FB page DSWD 4PS Update 2023 All Region, which uses a display photo featuring Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian. A part of the caption read:
“Libreng Pabahay 2023 TANDAAN: LIBRE AT WALANG BABAYARAN KAHIT PISO (Free Housing 2023 REMEMBER: FREE AND WITHOUT ANY PAYMENT NOT A SINGLE PESO).”
It further claims that poor people who do not own a house, are renting or staying at someone else’s can avail of the program. It instructs them to register through the provided link, which only leads to an e-commerce site.
A graphic bearing a photo of housing units published by the Pag-IBIG Fund was also attached. The text further tells netizens to “message” the impostor page to register from Aug. 17 to 30 this year. This graphic has been circulating online as early as 2022, only changing the year.
Filipino netizens flocked to the comment section hoping to be chosen, with some even sharing photos of their homes as “proof” that they deserve the “free housing.”
On Aug, 3, the DSWD posted an advisory calling the post untrue and clarifying that they do not have any program that provides free housing to the poor.
“Ang DSWD ay walang anomang programa na nagbibigay ng libreng pabahay para sa mga mahihirap. Ang Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development ang ahensya na may mandatong magpatupad ng mga pabahay program ng pamahalaan (The DSWD does not have any program that provides free housing for the poor. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development is the agency mandated to implement the administration’s housing programs),” a part of DSWD’s statement read.
The DSWD also encouraged the public to report the fake post and page. The department posts updates on its official social media pages and website.
In 2022, VERA Files Fact Check debunked erroneous posts regarding registration to the Marcos administration’s housing initiative called Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. (Read FALSE posts listing down beneficiaries of Marcos admin’s housing program spread anew)
The fake announcement circulated two days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. promised to expand the housing program in his second State of the Nation Address.
The post by the FB page DSWD 4PS Update 2023 All Region (created on July 1) in the FB group 4PS ALL REGION (created on Jan. 17 as 4PS GROUP CHAT) has drawn 1,700 reactions, 2,100 comments and 86 shares as of writing.
The page is notorious for posting fake online registration to government programs. (Read Impostor groups share FAKE online registration for DSWD’s food stamp program)
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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.)