PNP monitoring fake news in socmed posts
The Philippine National Police has been ordered to monitor and crack down on social media posts spreading fake news about the protest rallies against corruption beginning Sunday and expected to end Tuesday.
“I already tasked our PNP-ACG (Anti-Cybercrime Group) to monitor all of these and take the necessary legal action,” acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement on Sunday.
“We respect the freedom of speech and the freedom to air grievances but these do not include false claims and fake contents,” he added.
“The presence of your Philippine National Police will not only be in the assembly areas and on the roads, but also on cyberspace, in order to run after those who would dare to take advantage of this situation to mislead the public through fake news and fabricated claims,” Nartatez said.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo on Sunday led the three-day mass gathering at Luneta calling for accountability in the continuing scandal over corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.
‘Comedy series’
Meanwhile resigned congressman Zaldy Co on Sunday issued a third part of his video statements, this time claiming former House Speaker Martin Romualdez had threatened to “shoot” him.
“March 2025 pa lang si Speaker ay nagpaparinig sa akin sa aming meeting that he will shoot me if I will talk (As early as March 2025, the Speaker already hinted in our meeting that he will shoot me if I will talk),” said Co, adding that Romualdez had also warned him that if he returned home, it “will be dangerous.”
“[Because] they may hire someone to do a rubout on me or hire the police to kill me while in jail,” Co said.
He also claimed that the total kickbacks he got was P56 billion, not 21 billion as cited by Department of Public Works and Highways engineers.
He said the money just passed through his hands since he delivered it to Romualdez and President Marcos.
The former Speaker’s camp was reached for comment on Sunday, while Palace press officer Claire Castro issued a message to reporters on Sunday saying “That’s the problem with Zaldy Co’s patched-together lies. He can’t present any evidence—he’s just reading from a script.”
“The exposé his allies were expecting has turned into a comedy series instead,” she said. —WITH A REPORT FROM DEXTER CABALZA
