MANILA: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday advised the public anew to refrain from engaging over video streaming platform TikTok and other social media accounts that promise educational assistance. 'These pages and groups contain fake information that aims to mislead the public or, even worse, gather personal information which can be used by online scammers to perform theft,' DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in a news release. Dumlao said all clients of the DSWD need to undergo interview and proper assessment before they can qualify for the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program. She said the financial assistance is extended only through the Crisis Intervention Unit/Section (CIU/CIS) located at the Quezon City central office and in all DSWD field offices nationwide. The AICS program is one of the DSWD's frontline services that provides a wide range of services, including cash assistance for food, transportation, medical services and funeral expenses , and other essential needs of those who are in crisis and are found eligible as assessed by social workers. On the educational assistance, the DSWD implements "Tara, Basa!" (Let's Read) tutoring initiative, which is the reformatted educational assistance program of the agency. The tutoring program creates a learning ecosystem wherein college students in state universities and colleges will be deployed as tutors and youth development eorkers to help improve the reading proficiency of elementary students who are struggling to read or are non-readers. 'We remind our citizens to always check your sources of information online and engage only with official government websites and social media pages with verification check marks,' Dumlao said. The DSWD will continue to issue advisories to alert the public against fake information in social media through its official Facebook page Source: Philippines News Agency