A video uploaded on YouTube and Facebook (FB) falsely claimed that Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo favors the scrapping of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) law if it is found ineffective in alleviating poverty.
It appeared a day after the Senate conducted a hearing on Oct. 12 to discuss the proposed 2023 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The false headline read: “Erwin Tulfo PAYAG IBASURA ang 4Ps program kung hindi epektibo 900 BILYON na nagagasta 2% graduate (Erwin Tulfo agrees to scrap 4Ps program if it’s not effective P900 billion already spent, 2% graduate)!”
It is misleading. Tulfo only said that he agrees with the proposal to revisit the 4Ps law, which provides monthly assistance in cash and kind to selected low-income families in the country.
Sen. Imee Marcos, who presided over the hearing, said that since 2007, the government allocated P900 billion for the 4Ps program, but only 97,000, or less than 2% of the program beneficiaries, have graduated from poverty.
Marcos proposed to revisit the 4Ps law due to its limitations in serving as a pathway out of poverty despite the program’s high expenditure.
Tulfo told the committee, “I agree with you na it’s high time that we really have to revisit itong 4Ps na batas natin (our 4Ps law)… We will leave it to the hands of our legislators to make the decision as we are just the implementers of this program.”
YouTube channel Pinas News (created May 10, 2016) published the misleading video, which got over 26,800 interactions. Facebook page Philippines Media Coverage (Jan. 13, 2021) re-uploaded it and got 459,700 interactions.
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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.)
