FACT CHECK: Landbank’s Gawad Patnubay scholarship program ended in 2022

Claim: Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) posted an application link for its Gawad Patnubay Scholarship program for academic year 2024-2025. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made on January 16 in a post on the Facebook group “4ps Nation Wide updates” with 307,600 members as of writing. 

The post claims that the application for the Landbank scholarship program is ongoing. The program supposedly offers students P18,000 for tuition fees, P3,000 for food allowance, and P10,000 for parents. Interested applicants are instructed to click the link provided in the post.

As of writing, the post has gained 829 reactions, 691 comments, and 109 shares.

The facts: In a phone call with Rappler on Friday, January 19, Landbank confirmed that its Gawad Patnubay Scholarship Program officially closed in 2022 to give way to the bank’s new program, the Iskolar ng Landbank Program (ILP).

The Gawad Patnubay Scholarship Program was an education-to-employment initiative for students specializing in the fields of agriculture and fisheries.  

Iskolar ng Landbank program: Launched in 2023, ILP is a nationwide college scholarship program supporting underprivileged but deserving students. Contrary to the misleading Facebook post’s claim that the Landbank scholarship is open to all students, only the children or grandchildren of agrarian reform beneficiaries and small farmers and fisherfolk are eligible for the ILP.

According to Landbank, the application and screening of ILP scholars for academic year 2023-2024 has already ended. It will announce the next application cycle for academic year 2024-2025 through its official channels.

Fake links: Following a similar false claim on a supposed scholarship program, Landbank advised the public to remain vigilant against scams circulating on Facebook, including fake scholarship application links.

On closer look, the supposed link for the scholarship application leads to a blog, not Landbank’s official website. The misleading Facebook post also includes comments from a user claiming to provide more information about the program through a private message. Providing personal information through dubious channels may put users at risk of falling victim to phishing scams. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

Rappler has fact-checked fake scholarship programs shared by dubious Facebook pages:

• FACT CHECK: Link for CHED-UniFast scholarship is fake
• FACT CHECK: DOLE-NLRC has no scholarship program
• FACT CHECK: Registration link for ‘Robin Padilla scholarship’ is fake
• FACT CHECK: DSWD has no scholarship program with P6,500 cash allowance

Official news: For official updates, refer to the official LandBank website, and its official accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube.  – Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza/Rappler.com

Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program.

This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.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.