The office of Senator Robinhood Padilla denies affiliation with malicious Facebook pages that use his name for an alleged scholarship program
Claim: Students can sign up for Senator Robinhood Padilla’s scholarship program providing a monthly cash allowance and school supplies.
Why we fact-checked this: The post containing the claim was made by the page “DSWD Scholarship Program Updates” in a Facebook group with 352,800 members. As of writing, it has 213 reactions, 260 comments, and 20 shares. Several Facebook pages have also reposted the claim.
According to the post, Padilla is accepting applicants for his scholarship program that provides a P10,000 monthly allowance and school supplies for elementary, high school, college, and vocational students. The post included a registration link for interested applicants.
The facts: In an email to Rappler on Wednesday, December 20, Padilla denied the claim and said his office is not affiliated with the “DSWD Scholarship Program Updates” page and other similar dubious pages.
“Nais ko pong bigyan ng diin na wala pong ugnayan ang aking Tanggapan sa sinumang nasa likod ng page na ‘DSWD Scholarship Program’… o anumang malisyosong pages sa Facebook o iba pang mga social media platforms,” Padilla said.
(I would like to emphasize that my office has no affiliation with anyone behind the [Facebook] page “DSWD Scholarship Program [Updates]” … or with any malicious page on Facebook or other social media platforms.)
The senator also encouraged social media users to be vigilant and critical of such posts providing links to supposed scholarship programs as this may put their private information at risk. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)
Blogging site: Upon clicking the purported registration link, users are redirected to a blogging site dated October 2, 2023, which promotes a scholarship program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) instead of the alleged Robin Padilla scholarship.
The blogging site, which features the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and an alleged P7,000 monthly allowance for scholars, is also dubious as it does not redirect to an official government website. Both supposed aid programs had been fact-checked by Rappler in the past.
Some social media users, however, have started to leave comments with their private information such as name, contact number, and location.
Fact-checked: Rappler has fact-checked several claims on financial aid schemes supposedly from the DSWD:
Official accounts: For official updates on DSWD programs and services, refer to its official website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube accounts. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
