Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) – The Quezon City Police District Anti-Cybercrime Team filed a criminal complaint on Friday against a person allegedly spreading fake news that Mayor Joy Belmonte will distribute ₱3,000 worth of daily hygiene kits to every household in Barangay Sangandaan.
QCPD Director PBGen. Ronnie Montejo said they obtained a certification from Belmonte’s office which refuted the information.
Montejo ordered the QCPD-ACT to pursue persons who are spreading fake news in the city.
“May this serve as a stern warning to fake news peddlers,” he warned.
The unnamed suspect is facing charges in violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code, which punishes unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances, as prescribed in Proclamation No. 922 (Declaring a State of Public Health Emergency throughout the Philippines due to COVID-19) and Proclamation No. 929 (Declaring a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to COVID-19).
The Bayanihan to Heal as One Act also punishes those who create or spread false information about the disease that has affected 6,981 individuals and claimed 462 lives so far. A two-month jail sentence or a fine of ₱10,000 to ₱1 million awaits those who spread fake news during the pandemic.
As of April 6, the Philippine National Police arrested 32 individuals across the country for spreading bogus information.
The count does not include Cebu City-based screenwriter Bambi Beltran, who was arrested without a warrant on April 19 for allegedly posting unverified information on her Facebook account about the massive COVID-19 contamination of Sitio Zapatera in the city.
Beltran countersued Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella for purportedly violating her rights during her warrantless arrest.
