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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PNP Chief Azurin slams hoax messages on socmed about kidnapping

PNP Chief Azurin slams hoax messages on socmed about kidnapping

Published Aug 26, 2022 02:35 pm

As concerns about increasing kidnapping tries grow every day, the Philippine National Police (PNP) warned the public on Friday, August 26, that spreading false information on social media about the matter could land them in jail.

Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Chief of the Philippine National Police (Photo by PNP)

Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) has discovered numerous social media posts which claimed that there was a new modus operandi being done by criminals to kidnap individuals.

Azurin said the ACG, led by Police Brig. Gen. Joel Doria, validated an online report about a certain Facebook post on “Angono Rizal News Online” that criminal gangs were using young girls as bait to abduct unknowing victims.

(Photo by PNP)

The post, which carried the logo of the PNP, warned: “This message is for every girl who goes to college or office alone. If you any child crying on road , showing his/her address and asking you to take him/her to that address, take that child to police station and please don’t take to that address. It is a new way of gangs to steal, rape, and kidnap girls. Please circulate to all.”

Azurin said the photo was a screen capture of a social media post of the San Mateo Municipal Police Station in 2020 which was edited and re-circulated to spread fear among the public.

Meanwhile, a viral video also circulated on Facebook where an alleged female victim narrated how she escaped a supposed kidnap try on her by unidentified men onboard a white van, “indicating a possible sexual assault,” according to the PNP Chief.

(Photo courtesy of Biliran Island / Facebook)

A video clip of the supposed incident was posted on Facebook page “Biliran island” last August 20 and garnered 1.5 million views as of this writing. However, the supposed victim apologized in a separate video uploaded on Biliran Island Facebook page as she admitted that the incident was “false.”

Azurin said social media users should think twice before posting unverified information online since this could be a violation of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

“I call the attention of our public to be more mindful of what we are posting in our social media sites and refrain from spreading unverified information from unknown source that may lead to public disturbance, panic, and confusion,” Azurin said.

he PNP Chief said he already asked the management of Facebook to take down both social media posts and the involved social media pages.

Related Tags

PNP KIDNAPPING
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