Mu Sigma Phi, a medical fraternity in the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine, recently released a statement on social media assuring the public that materials used in its Project H20 are safe and food grade.
Project H2O, which provides potable drinking water to families affected by calamities, is part of the Greek-letter organization’s comprehensive relief operations that includes distributing food and medicine in disaster-stricken areas.
According to Mu Sigma Phi, their statement was spurred by comments from Jay Sonza on Facebook questioning “the quality and safety of water filtration buckets used in Project H2O.”
Earlier in the week, social media was abuzz with screenshots of a post, attributed to Sonza, alleging that water filtration buckets for a relief effort of the Office of the Vice President were earlier used to store paint and are tainted with lead.
The photo below shows one of those screenshots, this one from Katropa – Kabataan para sa Team Robredo-Pangilinan, a youth advocacy group:
Mu Sigma Phi said that Project H2O uses materials that are “food-grade and do not contain toxic chemicals” – these materials include brand new water filtration buckets, never used for any prior purpose, with non-toxic sticker paper labels; and Sawyer portable water filters approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mu Sigma Phi also said that the photo used in Sonza’s post is from a 2017 relief project in Marawi.
The photo appears in a post on the website of Physicians for Peace Philippines, an organization that assists developing nations through medical education and training, clinical care, and donating medical supplies.
The post, dated June 26, 2017, announced the organization’s collaboration with the UP College of Medicine to assist the Office of the Vice President in the Marawi Clash Relief Operations.
DZRH reached out to Sonza but has not received any comments at the time of publication.
— DZRH News Fact Checking Project
To request fact checks on news articles and social media posts, contact the DZRH News Fact Checking Project at: [email protected].
This article was written for the Philippine fact-checking incubator initiative of Internews, an international non-governmental organization advocating for accurate and responsible dissemination of information on social media platforms.
