Palace: Long lockdown, takeover ‘fake news’

MALACAÑANG on Friday debunked reports circulating online of military takeover and extension of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, who is also the spokesman for the Interagency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, said in an interview on DZBB radio that

since Thursday night “there have been many fake news circulating online that there will be military control next week, extended lockdown until May and closure of Divisoria and other public markets. I just want to clarify that all of these are all fake news.”

He added that the government was doing its best to address the Covid- 19 pandemic before the quarantine ends on April 12.

“We want to immediately address this Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. We want to end this health crisis but we need the cooperation of everyone,” he said.

He advised the public to monitor the official websites and Facebook pages of all concerned government agencies engaged in the pandemic response.

Nograles said all official announcements would only come from President Rodrigo Duterte, the Department of Health and the IATF.

The Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and AntiCybercrime Group, along with the National Bureau of Investigation, were intensifying operations against those spreading fake news.

“They are working overtime to punish individuals who are sharing false information because it’s not funny anymore,” Nograles said.

Duterte on Tuesday signed the Republic Act (RA) 11469 (“Bayanihan to Heal As One Act”), which grants him special powers to better deal with the Covid pandemic in the country.

Spreading fake news is punishable under RA 11469 with two months in jail or a fine of P10,000 to P1 million.