FACT CHECK: PH Army job ads posted by unauthorized page
Claim: The Philippine Army is urgently hiring for 7,000 job vacancies. Interested applicants must fill out an online application form through a link provided in several social media posts.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The dubious post on job vacancies was shared in several Facebook groups and by multiple users.
The facts: The posts are unauthorized by the Philippine Army, which clarified in a Facebook post that their official recruitment announcements and online application forms for aspiring soldiers are only posted on its official website, https://jointhearmy.ph/.
“Please report similar pages bearing false information. Let us use social media wisely,” the Philippine Army said.
The links on the posts with the claim redirect to a website with the uniform resource locator (URL) “philippinegovupdates.blogspot.com/” and “https://prcjobhiring.blogspot.com/.” Both websites are not related to the Philippine Army’s official website. Providing personal information through these sites may expose users to potential phishing scams. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)
On November 6, the Army posted a job vacancy notice for civilian employees in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations. This post came from the Army’s official Facebook page, unlike the misleading posts from dubious pages.
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Programs offered: The Philippine Army offers two programs for aspiring soldiers: the Officer Candidate Course (OCC) and the Candidate Soldier Course (CSC).
According to the Philippine Army website, OCC graduates will be commissioned as officers and will “take the path of being a platoon leader,” while CSC graduates become enlisted personnel after taking the course’s Transformation, Basic Squad Training, and Warfighting modules.
On the official recruitment website, applicants need to choose their preferred Army Recruitment Office before being redirected to an application form.
Similar claims: Rappler has debunked posts from multiple Facebook pages posing as official job hiring pages of government agencies. These pages typically use links redirecting to fake application forms:
- FACT CHECK: ‘BFP job application’ post contains fake links
- FACT CHECK: Facebook post contains fake link for Landbank job application
- FACT CHECK: Facebook post contains fake link for DBM application
- FACT CHECK: Posts on PNP job openings for K to 12 graduates are fake
– Lorenz Pasion/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. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.