AFP reminds personnel: Observe proper behavior online
MANILA, Philippines – Civilian and military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have been reminded to observe proper behavior online amid various issues swirling around social media.
This reminder, the AFP said on Thursday, was mentioned in an official message from the Office of the AFP Chief of Staff to the different commanders of the major services and unified commands dated May 6.
Aside from citing a social media use policy in 2016 which calls for proper etiquette and a high standard of conduct, the letter said that all “AFP military, civilian human resource, to include dependents, are directed to practice caution in publicizing personal opinion especially when engaging in social media activities”.
AFP did not mention any particular issue, but social media recently has been rife with various posts about the shutdown of media giant ABS-CBN, with the death of an ex-military man with mental illness at the hands of a police officer, and the administration’s policy direction towards the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABS-CBN’s shutdown last Tuesday triggered a lot of reactions from media personalities, celebrities, political observers, and common Filipinos — so much that the topic occupied the spots of Twitter’s trending hashtags.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued a cease-and-desist order against the network company after its franchise expired last May 4 — despite the commission’s assurance to Congress that ABS-CBN would be given a provisional authority to continue operation.
READ: ABS-CBN’s heart-rending last moments before shutting down
AFP clarified that they are not prohibiting personnel from voicing their own opinion, but publishing materials that violate existing rules and put AFP in a bad light are not allowed.
“Each member of our organization has a responsibility to protect not only our physical structures and the lives they contain, but more importantly the people’s trust and confidence that took many years to build,” AFP Chief of Staff General Felimon Santos Jr. said.
“Our ranks and positions as public servants hold us to higher standards of discipline and behavior and we are expected to live up to these in every aspect of our lives,” he added.
