Don’t get news from social media – DILG exec to public

MANILA, Philippines — People should get their news from credible media and not from social media where false and unverified claims abound, according to Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya.

Malaya gave the advice on Monday as he debunked as fake a voice clip being circulated online saying that the government would impose a total lockdown on the country as part of intensified efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Malaya said there was no such order even as authorities were intensifying implementation of guidelines under the enhanced community quarantine because many people were still going out of their homes.

The voice clip features a woman telling the people to stock up on food to last for a week in case President Duterte announces a total lockdown or martial law up to April 30. This means nobody would be allowed to go out of their homes, the woman says.

The enhanced community quarantine, which has been extended to April 30, restricts most people to their homes unless they are going out to buy necessities.

Legal liability

Malaya warned that those spreading the voice clip could be held liable under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.

Law enforcers are now looking into the matter, he said.

He asked the public to get information from the government or from private news organizations and not from social media.

“My advice to our countrymen is not to get our news on social media because it is not a reliable source of news,” he said in the Laging Handa briefing.

Government and private media networks are bound by the journalists’ code of ethics and attribute their reports to proper sources, he noted.

People could also check out the government’s www.covid19.gov.ph. Malaya described the online site as a repository of data about government efforts to battle COVID-19.