Press Release
November 13, 2017

Villar SIPAG disproves text messages, social media posts circulating about a raffle promo

The Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation or Villar SIPAG (formerly called Villar Foundation) warns the public about text scams currently circulating via text (SMS) messages and social media that use the Villar's name and that of the foundation. The misleading post on Facebook under a fake account/page "Villar Foundation Libreng Pabahay 2018" invites people to like and share its page to qualify for a supposed raffle of house on December 31, 2017 (draw date). The original post has since been taken down as well as the re-shared posts.

"Similar posts may resurface on social media and other platforms. We urge everyone to be more discriminating and do not believe or repost everything they see online. We will continue to be vigilant against scammers to prevent them from victimizing unsuspecting people," said Senator Cynthia Villar.

She added that this is not the first time that text scams were circulated to malign the Villar name and their foundation. In 2010, text messages claiming to be from Senator Manny Villar's alleged housing foundation 'Handog-Pabahay sa OFW' and promising cash rewards for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) also circulated.

Similar text (SMS) messages have been circulating on and off. It can be traced back during the campaign period for the presidential elections in 2010 and then resurfaced during the campaign period for the national elections in 2013, when Senators Manny Villar and Cynthia Villar ran for president and senator, respectively.

The Villar family has since coordinated with authorities, mainly the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to report the said text messages, which promise cash prizes from a supposed raffle promo.

"The scammers even include in the message raffle permit numbers from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the name of a person, who is misrepresenting himself as my lawyer or secretary, to make it appear legitimate. However, we would like to inform the public that the Villar SIPAG or Villar foundation has no ongoing raffle promos or contests," said Villar.

As before, the Villar SIPAG urges all those who will receive the scam text message to immediately report it to their office, contact details of which can be found on its website www.villarSIPAG.org. They also urge their supporters and the general public to follow, like or visit the official and validated social media pages and websites of Senator Manny and Cynthia Villar and of Villar SIPAG.

If the text scams were to continue, the Villars will not hesitate to take appropriate legal actions against the people or groups behind the propaganda. "We are seriously looking into these malicious and misleading text message and online posts. There are legal remedies and we will not hesitate to use them," Villar said.

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