Lockdown claims fake–DOH, DOE
With most national newspapers on their annual Good Friday break, purveyors of fake news managed to get free passes to disinform the public, falsely claiming “lockdowns” in the public health and energy sectors.
The first victim was the Department of Health (DOH) which dismissed as “fake news” claims posted on social media that there will be an emergency lockdown starting April 10 due to the “Cicada” variant of the coronavirus disease 2019.
Malacañang, on the other, labeled as fake a purported Department of Energy (DOE) “announcement” of an energy lockdown starting April 20.
“The Department of Health emphasizes that circulating claims of emergency lockdown in the country due to COVID-19 Cicada variant is false,” the DOH said in an advisory in Filipino at the weekend.
“There is no reason to implement a lockdown. The agency earlier said last March 31 that the Philippines remains safe from this variant,” the agency added, referring to tan earlier radio interview where DOH spokesperson Albert Domingo said that there was no reason to be alarmed.
The DOH said no cases of the Cicada strain have been detected in the Philippines as of April 2026, and the country remains safe from this variant.
“It is called a variant under monitoring. There is no reason to be alarmed or bothered by it because the figures do not change. In fact, based on our latest monitoring, there are 60 percent fewer COVID-19 cases in the Philippines compared to last year,” Domingo said in the interview.
Fake news groups
The DOH tagged posts by Facebook pages “Pinoy Newswire,” “Malasakit News Update: Balitang Sapat, Serbisyong Totoo” and “Weather Patrol” as the ones to have spread the fake news.
The agency did not state whether it would prosecute those responsible, but the act is punishable under the Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The social media posts appear to be similar to attempts in 2020 to spread disinformation about the Chinese vaccine Sinovac or claims about the Nipah virus which has not been recorded in the country since 2014.
Last year, there were also attempts to spread false information another COVID variant—the “Nimbus” or the NB.1.8.1 variant—had reached the Philippines. The claim was also false.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said at that time that Filipinos who received a full dose of COVID-19 vaccines at the height of the pandemic from 2021 to 2023 are still protected from other variants.
Continuing immunity?
“It seems the COVID-19 vaccines that were administered years before are still effective. So if you are vaccinated during the previous COVID-19 pandemic, then you are still protected,” Herbosa said at a Palace briefing.
According to data from the Food and Drug Administration, there were 78,443,972 fully vaccinated individuals as of June 2024, or 70 percent of the country’s 112 million population.
The DOH urged the public to refrain from sharing false information in social media and only rely on verified details provided by the agency and other legitimate media platforms.
Meanwhile, Palace press officer Claire Castro said the fake DOE announcement was published on social media with the DOE logo.
The fraudulent advisory urged the public to prepare power banks, solar equipment, candles, lamps, food and other essentials in anticipation of the energy lockdown.
In a press briefing on March 27, Castro already said that no energy lockdown was expected, following Iran’s denial of any dialogue or negotiations with the United States to end the war.
