CLAIM: A YouTube video published by Streetwise with Takeru Miyamoto on July 11, 2022, was captioned “Angat Buhay ni Robredo, kinuha ang relief goods ng DSWD?” and took a jibe on Angat Buhay, a non-government organization (NGO), affiliated to former vice-president Leni Robredo.
Miyamoto started the video with a “trivia”, saying that the word ANGAT (lift) when read backwards is TANGA (idiot). He also showed different Angat Buhay FB pages which he said are counterparts of the government’s Department of Health (Angat Kalusogan), Department of Education (Angat Edukasyon), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Angat Kalikasan).
The vlogger talked about the July 9 FB post of Angat Buhay which showed photos from Isabela-Quirino Development Council (IQDC), a volunteer group that handed out food packs and cooked meals to affected families in Banaue, Ifugao’s flashfloods and landslides. Angat Buhay said the IQDC is its partner and was the first volunteer group to respond to the relief operations. One of the accompanying photos, however, showed boxes of relief goods from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The vlogger said while they do not discredit the NGO’s help, the post was a form of “credit grab”, a bragging effort to make the foundation look relevant, and to make Angat Buhay’s relief goods look many by including the boxes from DSWD. He also said Leni’s supporters want to send the message that the former vice president is still helping the people while the current president and vice president are not by using the hashtags NasaanAngVP (Where is the vice president?) and NasaanAngPangulo (Where is the president?).
Miyamoto repeatedly called Leni’s supporters as idiots and the Philippine Daily Inquirer as a “bias” and “dilawan” media for reporting Angat Buhay’s activity, thereby helping in making still Leni relevant.
The video posted garnered 4,344 views, 354 likes, and 87 comments. The said YT channel has over 49,000 subscribers.
RATING: False
FACTS:
DSWD Sec. Erwin Tulfo on July 9 clarified that it is a violation of the law to distribute food packs and relief items to non-government associations. Food assistance and relief goods are channeled by the department to respective local government units involved.
He also clarified that the local government of Banaue, Ifugao combined the relief items sent by Angat Buhay NGO and goods from the DSWD in a warehouse for distribution to communities affected by flashfloods and mudslides.
Angat Buhay’s Executive Director Raphael Magno agreed with Tulfo’s statement that the relief goods were combined as seen in the photos. He encouraged everyone to help ensure that help is delivered to the affected communities.
Angat Buhay did not release any statement on the volunteer organizations mentioned by the vlogger. Magno said their NGO has four priority programs, namely food security, nutrition, and universal healthcare; education; disaster relief and rehabilitation; and community engagement.
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