DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 7 May) – The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) filed a cybercrime complaint against a male vlogger based here for allegedly spreading false information about a supposed police raid on the residence of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement on Wednesday, the DCPO said that the vlogger was charged for alleged violation of Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code (Unlawful Use of Means of Publication and Unlawful Utterances) in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act or Republic Act 10175.
It said that the Ecoland Police Station, in coordination with the Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit 11 (RACU 11), filed the complaint before the Davao City Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday.
A joint investigation by the City Investigation and Detective Management Unit (CIDMU) and RACU 11 found that the claims made in the livestream were “false and misleading,” the DCPO said, without identifying the vlogger.
It noted that the male vlogger went live on Facebook on April 30, “falsely claiming that around 30 members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and 90 Special Action Force (SAF) personnel from Luzon conducted a raid at Duterte’s home in Doña Luisa Subdivision, Matina, Davao City.”
In a video statement posted Tuesday evening, Brigadier General Leon Victor Rosete, Police Regional Office XI (PRO XI) director, said that the police are preparing for the possibility of the circulation of more “fake news.”
Last Friday, Rosete said that a group may be behind the spread of false information online “about planned police raids on properties owned by the Duterte family.”
As a result, Duterte supporters gathered outside his home in Doña Luisa Subdivision, after social media posts claimed that CIDG and SAF troops had arrived in Davao City for the raid.
He clarified that the police went to the area only to check on the safety and security of the people there, and not to conduct any operation.
Rosete said the “raid rumors” might be connected to other “fake posts,” including claims of a “leaked” police memo ordering officers to wear red during a political event in Davao del Norte last February, and another about 90 officers being reassigned to the Bangsamoro region.
In a press conference Wednesday morning at the Royal Mandaya Hotel here, PRO XI spokesperson Catherine Dela Rey said that amid the backlash from netizens, especially from pro-Duterte family supporters, the Philippine National Police remains with its “professionalism” and “non-partisan” stance, especially that the midterm elections are near, on May 12. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
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