CHED warns vs unofficial FB pages posting false info on scholarships

By: Adrian Parungao - 1 year ago

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has warned the public against several unverified Facebook posts of alleged scholarships being offered by the commission and the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST).

“It has come to my attention that several unofficial accounts on Facebook are misrepresenting and giving out false information about the scholarships and financial assistance offered by CHED and UniFAST,” CHED chairperson Prospero de Vera III said in a statement Tuesday.

“These fake accounts bear the name and logo of CHED and are promoting application and registration links for CHED scholarships and UniFAST financial assistance,” he added.

The CHED chief said that the application period for the scholarships offered by the two agencies is only from March to May and follows a prioritization system.

“On behalf of the Commission, I wish to set the record straight. The application period for scholarship and financial assistance grants offered by CHED per CMO 8, 2019, occurs annually from March 1 to May 31. These grants follow a prioritization scheme to quality, and the availability of new slots is contingent on our availability of funds,” de Vera said.

Para iwas FAKE NEWS at hindi mabudol, sundan at kumuha lamang ng impormasyon sa UniFAST’s official accounts: @unifastofficial (Facebook/YouTube), @unifastgovph (X/Tiktok), at https://t.co/Tgqf0ZsAZd (website). pic.twitter.com/f1BDbCQY6Z

— unifastofficial (@unifastgovph) November 28, 2023

He also asked the public to get their information from the CHED’s official channels: PhCHED.gov on Facebook; @PhCHED on X (formerly Twitter); and ched.gov.ph, its website.

On the other hand, UniFAST’s official accounts are unifastofficial on Facebook, @unifastgovph on X, and unifast.gov.ph, its website.

“For any fraudulent or suspicious activity, you may report it to the Commission and its Regional Offices or the UniFAST Secretariat and its Regional Coordinators so we can respond appropriately,” he said.