Sorry guys, the announcement of class suspension on some days next week posted in a Facebook page is NOT true according to Department of Education (DepEd).
On Monday, DepEd has issued an official statement belying the post of Facebook page ‘Walang Pasok Advisory’ that there are no classes on November 28 and 29, 2017. Citing philstar.com as source, the page posted:
#BeInformed #WalangPasok DepEd declared Nov. 28, 29, No Classes Nationwide both Public and Private due to URRD Education Meeting of Teachers 2017. While Nov. 30 is a Legal Non Working Holiday. Enjoy the long weekends.
via @philstar.com
The post has created a stir online as it was shared around 30,000 times, earning almost 4,000 comments and 4,000 reactions as of this writing.
This prompted the education department to issue an advisory discrediting it. Full text below:
DepEd on its official announcements
The Department of Education (DepEd) has not made any announcement regarding the suspension of classes being circulated by Facebook page “Walang Pasok Advisory,” nor is it associated with the page in any way.
DepEd encourages the public to be more vigilant against fake news and half-truths, and be more discerning of information that they accept and disseminate.
The Department further advises the public to get verified information and announcements of the agency on the official website, www.deped.gov.ph, official Facebook page DepEd Philippines, and official Twitter account DepEd_PH.
Philippine Star has also posted an advisory in its social media pages disproving the announcement.
Interestingly, upon searching for it in Facebook, I found out that there are two ‘Walang Pasok Advisory’ pages; the first one has 259,000 followers, and the other has around 17,000.
The page with less followers/likers is the one spreading the fake news/announcement.
In this social media age where information is easily obtained and disseminated, it really pays to check first the veracity of the content before believing it and sharing it to others.
Of course, November 30 is a regular holiday being the Bonifacio Day.
