Imposters on Facebook have spread fake recruitment ads of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) as tensions with China continue to rise in the West Philippine Sea.
The PCG has yet to open its calls for application this 2024.
The “recruitment” calls to join the humanitarian armed service started circulating as early as Dec. 17. The fake graphics listed down job requirements and bore the PCG’s logo and photos from PCG training and events. The FB captions carried links to supposed registration sites where candidates can fill out an application.
A Dec. 29 post bore the caption:
“PCG HIRING 2024. APPLICATION NOW OPENED.”
The accompanying graphic carried the text:
“PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD HIRING: K12 GRADUATES. 5’0 Height Above. NO AGE’S (sic) LIMIT. P43,000.00 Monthly Salary.”
These are bogus. The pages are not affiliated with the PCG and there are no announcements yet regarding their 2024 nationwide recruitment.
On Dec. 21 and 27, the PCG and its Human Resource Management Command (CGHRMC) released advisories calling the circulating posts “fake news.”
The PCG reminded the public to wait for legitimate recruitment updates from their official FB pages (here and here). Its last recruitment cycle ended last September.
There are also age limits for PCG commissionship and enlistment applicants. These were the following age requirements based on CGHRMC’s June 5, 2023 post:
- 21 to 28 years old for general line officers, except for applicants coming from the ranks;
- 26 to 36 years old for technical line officers with the rank of CG Lieutenant;
- 21 to 28 years old for technical line officers with the rank of CG Ensign; and
- 18 to 28 years old for non-officer enlistment.
The “registration” links in the posts bore the domain names philippinesupport.com and libreng-ayuda-2022.blogspot.com, which contain ads leading to e-commerce sites. The official website of the PCG is coastguard.gov.ph.
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked fake online registrations peddled by libreng-ayuda-2022.blogspot.com. (Read FAKE beneficiary list, online reg for ‘DSWD scholarship program’ circulates)
The fake posts were uploaded more than a week after the PCG and the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea reported that China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels again “harassed, blocked, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against Philippine civilian vessels in a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.
According to a recent PhilStar report, the PCG plans to conduct a “massive recruitment” for 2024, aiming to hire 4,000 additional staff.
VERA Files previously debunked other misleading job hirings attributed to government agencies. (Read Posts about P90k salary at BIR for high school, college graduates MISLEAD)
The seven posts by the FB pages PRC News and Updates (created on July 5, 2022 as Libreng Pabahay Official 2022), PRC News Update (Nov. 22, 2023 as PRC BOARD Results) and Serbisyong Manggagawa Para Sa Bangsamoro (June 22, 2019 as Ministry of Labor and Employment) garnered 2,231 reactions, 1,845 comments, 2,522 shares collectively. These were also shared in various FB groups.
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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.)