False posts promote '10,000-peso cash handout' in the Philippines
- Published on December 7, 2023 at 08:48
- 3 min read
- By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines
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"Open to ALL 18-60 yrs old. The first 100 who will ask HOW will be given," reads part of a Facebook post shared in both Tagalog and English here on December 3, 2023.
More than 900 users commented on the post, which includes a graphic bearing the logo of the Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and images of a masked individual handing envelopes to people also wearing face masks.
Tagalog-language text superimposed on the graphic reads: "Everyone who participates will receive P10,000."
The same graphic was shared in several other Facebook groups in the Philippines here, here and here.
Hundreds of social media users followed the posts' instructions by asking about the purported cash handout.
But the DSWD has refuted the claim about the 10,000-peso ($180) financial aid.
The Philippine social welfare agency's name and logo is frequently used to promote false financial aid schemes; some of these hoaxes have been debunked by AFP here, here and here.
Politician's cash distribution in 2021
A reverse image search on Google led to Facebook posts with similar photos here and here that have circulated since 2021 (archived links here and here).
These posts identify the individual handing out the envelopes as Filipino senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who at the time was a congressman.
The captions add he was distributing 10,000 pesos in cash to people in Santa Rosa City in Laguna province south of the capital Manila on May 21, 2021.
Posts and videos on Cayetano's official Facebook page also show him handing out cash in Laguna on the same day (archived link).
Local media reported here and here that the cash handout aimed to give economic assistance to people who were struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic (archived links here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison between the graphic used in the false posts (top) and similar photos posted on Facebook in 2021 (bottom left and right):
A spokesperson for the DSWD, Romel Lopez, told AFP the claim the agency was distributing 10,000 pesos is "not true and we have already reported it to the authorities".
"Any programme outside our regular programmes has nothing to do with the initiatives of any elected officials," he said on December 5.
"So far, we don't have any program that you can apply [for] online. That's why you have to transact personally in our offices."
Both the DSWD and Cayetano have separately issued warnings about hoax cash payouts (archived links here and here).
The social welfare agency's statement on Facebook from May 24 includes a screenshot of the same false graphic currently circulating online.
It says: "The DSWD has nothing to do with the circulating Facebook posts with a caption and an attached photo using the department's logo without permission."
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