PNP asks: Avoid causing panic on social media

A local police station’s Facebook post during the weekend prompted the region’s top police official to repeat this appeal: Avoid spreading unverified messages in texts or social media posts, if you really want to help.

Police Regional Office 7 Director Noli Taliño said there was no point in “causing panic and alarm,” and ordered an inquiry on some Asturias Police Station officers who posted last Saturday on their Facebook account a warning that Abu Sayyaf members were allegedly on their way to the Visayas.

Local and police officials are working to reassure the public, while appealing for vigilance in the wake of the US Embassy’s release of a travel advisory that asked American citizens to review plans to travel to Central Visayas.

Cebu has just hosted some meetings of Southeast Asian ministers, and another set of meetings will be held in Bohol next week, after the Holy Week’s peak travel period.

Gov. Hilario Davide III and Cebu City City Mayor Tomas Osmeña both urged their constituents to be vigilant, while Archbishop Jose Palma appealed to everyone to pray for a safe Holy Week observance.

Some 5.97 million tourists visited the country in 2016, when the target was six million persons.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Noli Taliño warned the public against sharing unverified posts on social media and text messages regarding the travel advisory of the US Embassy against Central Visayas.

This, after the Asturias Police Station posted a warning on their Facebook account that members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were allegedly on their way to the Visayas to stage kidnapping activities.

“Those police officers will be investigated. These posts will cause panic and alarm so these should be verified first,” Taliño said, after reading the post.

He advised the public to report any information directly to the police or the military to avoid confusion.

After a few minutes, the post, which was published on Saturday afternoon, was taken down upon Taliño’s directive.

Senior Insp. Albert Quilotorio, chief of the Asturias Police, has been relieved and transferred to the Danao Police Station.

Taliño said it was not in relation to the Facebook post but because of his performance as chief.

This, as police officers will be detailed in different churches in the region for the Holy Week.

The PRO 7 also activated Oplan SumVac, or Summer Vacation, as vacationers are expected in different tourist destinations in the region.

The Muslim community has also promised to help in monitoring the region following the US Embassy’s travel advisory.

Malo Manonggiring, director of National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) 7 in a dyAB report, said that he met with Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria to extend his help in intelligence gathering.

A no-fly zone and no-sail zone will be implemented in the island of Panglao for the Bohol part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings on April 19 to 22. /