TACLOBAN CITY – Police have filed charges against a 19-year-old woman for allegedly spreading fake news or disinformation about an attempted kidnapping by men onboard a white van in Naval, Biliran that circulated on social media on Aug. 20.
The woman from Cabucgayan, Biliran is facing imprisonment from one to six months and a fine up to P200,000 under Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012).
The law states that any person, who, by means of printing, lithography, or any other means of publication, shall publish or cause to be published as news any false news which may endanger the public order, or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State, shall be imposed with the penalty of arresto mayor and a fine ranging from P200,000 to P400,000.
RA 10175 provides that penalties for crimes committed by, through, and with the use of information and communications technologies shall be one degree higher.
Biliran Police Provincial Office director Col. Dionesio Apas Jr. said there were a lot of inconsistencies in her statement which she later admitted to being false.
During her interview with the police, she said she boarded a yellow tricycle from her boarding house to go to the office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development to seek educational financial assistance.
However, she said she was brought to a different place and was threatened with a knife.
She added that she was tied and brought to a secluded place where a van with three bonnet-clad men waited and talked to the tricycle driver for about five minutes.
She told police that it allowed her to free herself and run for safety.
Police said aside from the inconsistencies in her story, she did not indicate struggle and her appearance did not show exhaustion from running. Further, lawmen said, no eyewitness and closed circuit television footage corroborated her story.
Police said it was also impossible for the abductors to talk before she was transferred to the van. Nevertheless, the Naval police still investigated the incident.
The next day, through local police coordination, she went to the mayor's office to issue a public apology.