photo: PNP-HPG Facebook page
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is now conducting an investigation into the viral post of a woman who claimed that her husband hired a motorcycle rider of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to escort her vehicle and eventually escape traffic en route her destination.
In a statement, the PNP-HPG stressed that there is no existing policy that allows any of its personnel to be hired by private individuals.
“The HPG clearly states that we will not tolerate any in, or endorsement of escort-for-hire services. Such activities are strictly against our existing protocols and regulations,” the PNP-HPG statement read.
The statement came amid the viral post of a woman who "flexed" how she was able to escape traffic on her way to her destination due to the assistance of an HPG motorcycle rider.
The post, which showed a photo of an HPG rider in front of her vehicle, also stated that the HPG rider was hired by her husband.
“How can I settle for less when my husband hired a HPG escort para lang hindi ako ma-traffic sa pupuntahan ko,” the post read.
The area appears to be along an expressway.
The post immediately went viral on social media, and resulted in the PNP being criticized and condemned by netizens.
it also came while the PNP is still reeling from incidents of a handful of its personnel being accused of moonlighting as security escorts of VIPs.
But in the HPG statement, it said an investigation is now being conducted to determine the veracity of the claim of the netizen who posted about it.
“An investigation is already being undertaken to determine the veracity of the recent viral post and misunderstanding related to this matter,” the HPG statement read.
And if the netizen is found to have been lying about it, the HPG said she would definitely be in trouble.
“We will file the necessary cybercrime-related offenses to those individuals who will post any malicious statements that will malign/tarnish the image of the HPG and the possible criminal and administrative charges to our personnel,” the statement read.
“We assure the public that a thorough and transparent investigation process is underway maintaining the rule of law,” it added.