FALSE: Leni Robredo ‘says’ K to 12 is not enough

Claim: Vice President Leni Robredo said that the K to 12 program is “not enough,” according to a meme that is circulating online.

The meme features an image of the Vice President with the quote, “Kulang pa ang K to 12 education system natin. Kailangan 4 na taon sa junior [high school] at 4 na taon sa senior [high school].”

(Our K to 12 education system is not enough. We need 4 years of junior [high school] and 4 years of senior [high school].)

The meme was posted by Facebook user Xander Xyrus in the group, Raffy Tulfo In Action Supporters, on January 17, where it has since received more than 2,300 reactions, 451 comments, and 6,500 shares.

It was also shared on the page Marlo Criz TV on February 19, where it received 439 reactions, 223 comments, and 2,400 shares.

The meme was sent to Rappler for fact checking via email and was also spotted through Facebook’s monitoring tool Claim Check.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: Robredo did not say what was attributed to her in the meme.

The Vice President said in the October 27, 2019 episode of her radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni,” that she was open to reviewing the program to improve it further. (INFOGRAPHIC: 10 things about K to 12)

She said: “So tingin ko, okay na i-assess, pero ang dapat hanapan ng paraan, papaano ba masisiguro na kapag nag-graduate ng Grade 12, handa na talagang magtrabaho. Kasi kung ganito iyong kondisyon ng senior high school na ang daming hindi nakakapag-hands-on, ang daming walang gamit, talagang wala sa kanilang tatanggap kasi hindi naman sila nakapag-actual.”

(In my opinion, it’s ok to assess it already, but we need to find a way to ensure that when they graduate from Grade 12, they are really ready to work. Because if this is the condition of senior high school, where many don’t get to experience hands-on work, many don’t have materials, many really won’t be accepted because they didn’t get actual experience.)

On Sunday, March 1, the Vice President also denied the claim on her official Facebook page, where she reiterated that she supports a possible review of the program.

Robredo has been supportive of the K to 12 program since 2015, the year before she won as vice president in May 2016.

Rappler had fact checked the group, Raffy Tulfo in Action Supporters, before when someone shared a video about a supposed “sigbin” caught in Surigao City.

Social media users often wrongly attribute quotes to Robredo. Rappler has fact checked a few, which you can find below: 

• FALSE: Robredo, Hontiveros ‘quotes’ on drug war, kidnapping
• FALSE: Robredo ‘says’ pay Ayalas than give free water services to public
• FALSE: Robredo bans police from carrying firearms during anti-drug ops
• FALSE: Robredo wants suspects to ‘carry guns,’ police to ‘train martial arts’
• FALSE: Robredo ‘proposes widening pipes’ as solution to water crisis
• FALSE: Robredo ‘crafts’ own survey of drug users
• FALSE: Leni Robredo ‘ready’ to take over presidency

– Vernise L Tantuco/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. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.