A netizen published Oct. 1 an online post that uses false information to compare the temporary housing projects of the Aquino and Duterte administrations.
The online post compared two photos of what it claimed were “temporary shelters”: one showing former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III standing inside a wooden hut, with the text “P880,000 – Yolanda” underneath, and another photo of a four-panel styrofoam house with the text “P220,000 – Marawi.”
Both prices indicated in the post are false, and in fact, wrongly present the Aquino shelters as being more expensive.
The first photo is actually a Nov. 7, 2014 Malacañang Photo Bureau photo showing Aquino inspecting transitional shelters for Typhoon Yolanda victims in Guian town, Eastern Samar. Yolanda (international name Haiyan), was one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded. The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s 2016 status report on Yolanda funds reveals the temporary shelters, made of nipa and constructed in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, were not worth P880,000 but only P76,210 per unit.
The second photo is a swiped screen grab from an Oct. 18, 2017 ABS-CBN News online report about the Korean-technology “hard-pressed styrofoam” transitional shelters commissioned by the National Housing Authority for residents displaced by the war in Marawi City. In a press briefing a month earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines – Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Romina Marasigan said the temporary shelters were approximately P160,000 per unit, not P220,000 as the online post claims. An ABS-CBN report also echoes this fact.
The May-October 2017 Marawi crisis, an armed conflict between government security forces and local terror groups with links to ISIS, devastated the southern city.
The false report also wrongly claims in its caption that mainstream media did not report about the difference between the two projects, saying: “Temporary housing shelters of Marawi and Yolanda. Hindi ipinapakita sa mainstream media. #DigongTalaga #Marawi #BangonMarawi #PRRD (Temporary housing shelters of Marawi and Yolanda. Not shown in mainstream media. #TruthfullyDigong #Marawi #RiseMarawi #PRRD).”
Apart from ABS-CBN, Mindanews and GMA’s 24 Oras also reported the Marawi shelters; the Yolanda shelters by Inquirer.net, Philstar.com and Manila Bulletin.
The online post surfaced less than two weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Sept. 25 the construction of housing units and evacuation centers in Naga City, Cebu, where dozens were killed that week in a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains.
The false post has so far been shared by more than 8,300 people.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
