FACT CHECK: Registration links to P20,000 AICS, AKAP cash aid are fake

Claim: Cash aid from government programs Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) worth P20,000 can be claimed by filling out a form or messaging a certain Facebook page. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Dubious Facebook pages have repeatedly posted the claim, with one post gaining 120 reactions, 87 comments, and 12 shares as of writing. The claims are also being shared to Facebook groups, with one having as many as 200,000 members. 

The Facebook pages use the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) logo as well as the AKAP and AICS logo in the graphic announcing the supposed cash aid.  

“Lahat ng nanay at tatay na may anak na pinapaaral, mag-message sa amin para makatanggap ng P20,000 pesos cash assistance,” the posts say in their caption. 

(All mothers and fathers who have children in school, message us to receive P20,000 cash assistance.) 

The facts: Phishing link checker developed by EasyDMARC has flagged the links in the Facebook posts as suspicious. 

Scanning tool urlscan.io also shows that the links lead to a blog page, not an official government website. It has no authority to hand out cash assistance from the AKAP and AICS programs, as only the DSWD is authorized to do so. Filling out unauthorized forms on websites posing as an official government source can pose risks to users’ personal and financial information. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

The viral post also contains dubious information. It mentions that even beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) — the government’s flagship conditional cash transfer program implemented by the DSWD — are eligible to receive cash aid under AKAP. This is not possible because the AKAP guidelines issued in 2024 explicitly disqualifies beneficiaries of other forms of government cash assistance. 

AICS, AKAP: AKAP is an initiative that hands out cash assistance to individuals whose income is below the minimum wage or insufficient to meet their basic needs, while AICS is a safety net for individuals experiencing severe hardship by providing educational, medical, transportation, funeral, food aid, and other forms of assistance.

AKAP has been discontinued as it was given no allocation in the 2026 national budget. The DSWD said that the AICS program now covers the clients of the defunded AKAP.

While AKAP, like AICS, uses a screening process by DSWD social workers to determine eligibility in applying for assistance, the program faced scrutiny for having no official list of beneficiaries and concerns that it was being politicized. 

Official sources: This is not the first time this claim has circulated online. As recently as April 21, the DSWD put out an advisory warning social media users against clicking links in messages promising government cash assistance. The same advisory also stated that the AKAP program has been discontinued.

Legitimate information on the DSWD’s programs and services can be found on its website or social media accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube. 

Debunked: Rappler has debunked other false claims related to fake registration links:

• FACT CHECK: DepED is not giving P10,000 cash aid
• FACT CHECK: No PhilSys cash aid for national ID registration
• FACT CHECK: 4Ps payout schedule circulating online is unofficial, with fake links
• FACT CHECK: Registration links to P7,000 AKAP cash aid are fake

– Lance Magno/Rappler.com

Lance Magno is a volunteer for Rappler’s Research and Data unit. He is a fourth year BS Biology student specializing in microbiology at Centro Escolar University Manila.

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at [e-mail]. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.