Pro-Duterte vloggers, trolls peddling fake news vs. PNP – Torre

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

Six cases have been filed against the people behind the posts, four of which currently undergoing preliminary investigation and two undergoing trial. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Nicolas Torre III on Monday accused vloggers and “trolls” associated with the Duterte administration of spreading fake news online to malign the police organization.

In a press briefing, Torre cited three viral videos that were allegedly used to make it appear that the Philippines has a serious peace and order problem.

“These were all posted by DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters) vloggers, DDS trolls who have no legitimate issues to throw at the government,” Torre said.

“This is crazy. They are misleading the public into believing that all these happened in the Philippines, that there is no orderliness, that there is no peace and order in the country.”

The first video shows three young motorcycle-riding men who placed a wooden bench in the middle of the road, resulting in a vehicular accident.

Torre said the uploader, Mitsy Vlogs, made it appear that the video was taken in the Philippines, although in truth it happened in Indonesia as shown by the license plate.

Torre said they are now coordinating with Meta to take down the video from Facebook.

A second video presented by Torre, uploaded by a certain Kerwin Salvador dela Cruz, showed a group of teenagers ganging up on a young man. A PNP verification revealed that it happened in Vietnam.

A third video, taken in Cebu, turned out to be a case of a fistfight between two bus passengers and not a case of robbery as claimed by the uploader.

“We will have all of these taken down and we will also file charges,” Torre said of the three videos and their uploaders.

Of 1,372 malicious posts/fake news requested to be taken down, 112 were removed while 1,260 were flagged by Meta, based on the PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) data from Jan. 1 to Aug. 13.

Six cases have been filed against the people behind the posts, four of which currently undergoing preliminary investigation and two undergoing trial.

“Let us stop sharing unverified information.

Please be reminded that spreading fake news is a serious offense punishable by law with fines and imprisonment,” PNP-ACG director Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang told reporters.

“If you encounter anyone posting malinformation, misinformation, or disinformation, report it immediately to the PNP ACG or dial 911 for prompt action,” he added.