A month-old infographic still making the rounds on the web and which rehashes a claim about under-implemented projects during the term of Mar Roxas as Interior secretary needs context.
Facebook page Mar Roxas X-Files first published the post on April 18, carrying a 2015 Kami.com.ph photo of Roxas juxtaposed with the text:
“DILG SALINTUBIG PROGRAM
- P4.7B Total Budget
- 73 out of 278 water supply projects lamang ang natapos ayon sa 2013 COA Audit Report.”
The infographic looked meant to smear Roxas ahead of the midterm elections, where the former Cabinet official ran as senator. It was given the title ‘Tale of Pilferage’ and at the bottom had this question: ‘Ito ba ang senador nyong iboboto?’ (Is this the senator you’ll vote for?)
The post also said the unfinished program is the reason for the country’s water crisis.
While Mar Roxas X-Files wrongly stated that the number of water supply projects were at 278 instead of 276, the Commission on Audit in 2013 indeed found that only 73 projects – or 26.45 percent – had been implemented under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)’s “Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig Para sa Lahat” or SALINTUBIG program that year.
However, it fails to mention that after a year, COA rated the SALINTUBIG program as “partially implemented” after DILG followed the recommendations the state auditing body made in 2013. COA reported that the program was 84.11 percent implemented in 2014.
In 2015, COA only recommended that DILG in the Cordillera Administrative Region submit Water Potability Test Results, and flagged local government units for failing to liquidate their SALINTUBIG projects “despite the full completion of the projects/activities.”
Initiated in 2011 by the Department of Health, the SALINTUBIG program aims to provide facilities for safe water supply to municipalities identified by the National Anti-Poverty Commission.
The Mar Roxas X-Files’ post continues to circulate two weeks after the election. Roxas and the other opposition candidates failed to win any Senate seat. The post has been shared over 19,000 times, and has received over 1,600 reactions and over 800 comments.
A similar online post, which bore a few more baseless and inaccurate claims, was debunked by VERA Files Fact Check in February.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
