Dismissed cops behind ‘fake crimes’ – Albayalde
Dismissed police officers may be behind the dissemination of fake information on the spate of criminality in the country, the country's top cop revealed.
"It's possible na puwede rin 'yung mga disgruntled o mga natanggal sa aming hanay ang mga nagkakakalat din ng mga ganito (It's also possible that disgruntled or dismissed [cops] are the purveyors of [fake crimes]," PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said when sought for reaction on the alleged dissemination of fake crimes information in social media.
"It's because sila ang may idea kung paano sirain o palabasin na we have very bad peace and order situation in our country (It's because they already have an idea how to destroy or make it appear that the situation of peace and order in the country is bad)," Albayalde added.
Earlier this week, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said that a series of social media posts had gone viral after reporting supposed robbery incidents in restaurants in Quezon City.
However, NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar clarified that of the five reported posts, only one incident was verified as legitimate. It was a Japanese restaurant that was allegedly robbed by at least four unidentified suspects along Scout Tobias and Loscano Street in Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City on June 1.
Eleazar then appealed to the public to stop spreading "fake news and lies" so as not to cause public alarm.
Just as Albayalde and Eleazar dismissed the increasing number of robbery incidents, another restaurant – again along Scout Tobias – was robbed by two motorcycle-riding suspects last June 6.
The two robbery holdup suspects were gunned down by lawmen in a hot pursuit, the police reported. It was the second restaurant to be hit this week along Scout Tobias.
Aside from the robbery incidents, the killing of Madona Joy Ednaco-Tanyag, a pregnant Ombudsman prosecutor, in Quezon City on June 4 and the arrest of several police officers for their alleged involvement in illegal drugs, extortion and other activities earned the ire of President Duterte.
Albayalde reiterated that he has ordered the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to investigate the social media accounts of those suspected to be proliferating "fake crimes."