VERA Files
Five Facebook (FB) groups carried posts claiming that Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is offering a scholarship from the Department of Education (DepEd). These are fake.
Published on Aug. 20, the five bogus posts advertised a scholarship allegedly from DepEd for students “from elementary to college” with a P7,000 monthly stipend, a free tablet and books. It asked people to send a message so they could avail of the alleged offer.
No such scholarship exists, DepEd’s Public Assistance and Action Center told VERA Files Fact Check in an Aug. 23 telephone call.
More, DepEd’s mandate covers only basic education which is from elementary to senior high school. It does not cover college students.
VERA Files Fact Check debunked a similar scam in 2022.
DepEd has an existing voucher program for 10th grade students to help defray costs of tuition and other fees at participating senior high schools. It also implements education service contracting, which offers tuition subsidies to qualified elementary school graduates who wish to study in private schools.
The fake DepEd scholarship posts carried links to the blog BALITA PINAS NGAYON (balitapinasngayon.blogspot.com), which featured other scams offering educational assistance and a P7,000 cash giveaway allegedly from Sen. Robin Padilla.
The posts, which garnered over 5,328 interactions, were published three days after Duterte led a Brigada Eskwela campaign in Banlasan, Davao del Sur.
Three out of five FB groups that carried this post (4PS ALL REGION, DSWD 4PS Update All Region, and 4P’s UPDATES AND PAY OUT SCHEDULE,) claim to provide announcements about the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s programs. These groups carry other bogus schemes offering scholarships and free school supplies.
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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.)
