MISSING CONTEXT: Comparison of pandemic aid from US and China

At a glance:

• Claim: China donated medical supplies, vaccines, and school tablets to the Philippines, while the United States donated bombs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Rating: MISSING CONTEXT
• The facts: Although it is true that the US donated defense equipment to the Philippines at the time of the pandemic, it has also provided assistance dedicated to COVID-19 response.
• Why we fact-checked this: Claim Check, Facebook’s monitoring tool, flagged the post containing this claim for fact-checkers to verify.

Complete details:

Facebook page “Integrated Development Studies Institute” posted a graphic on February 3 that compared the donations made by China and the US to the Philippines during the pandemic.

The graphic and its caption read: “While the Philippines fight vs Covid… China donates MILLIONS of MEDICAL SUPPLIES & 500,000 VACCINES to help Filipinos & 2,000 SCHOOL TABLETS for Filipino students !! USA donates $18-M in BOMBS for ???”

The post also said the donation of defense weapons from the US would lead to a “dangerous arms race in Asia.”

This lacks context. While it is true that the US donated $18 million (P864.9 million) worth of missiles and other weapons to the Philippines in November 2020, it has also provided assistance for various COVID-19 response efforts since the pandemic started.

The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of Defense, has contributed over $22.6 million (P1.09 billion) to the Philippines’ COVID-19 response as of September 2020. The donations include new ventilators, personal protective equipment, and medical supplies.

In June 2020, the US government also provided P126 million under USAID’s basic education project, which aims to help advance education delivery in the country during the pandemic.

Claim Check, Facebook’s monitoring tool, flagged the post with missing context for fact-checking. It has over 3,700 reactions, 632 comments, and 236 shares as of writing.

The Facebook page “Integrated Development Studies Institute” also posted in 2019 a misleading claim that an 11-year-old Iranian girl “beat” theoretical physicists Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein’s results in an IQ test. Rappler also fact-checked this. – Pauline Macaraeg/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.

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