PNP reminds personnel to observe cyber etiquette

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa in his virtual presscon. File photo from the PNP Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday reminded all its personnel, both uniformed and non-uniformed, to observe cyber etiquette when using social media.

“In accordance to PNP policy on social networking sites, all personnel must observe proper decorum in all public engagements including social media platforms, chat groups and private sites,” read a statement from the PNP.

The PNP issued this reminder after the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTC-ELCAC) recently posted on its Facebook page “key points” on the shutdown of broadcast giant ABS-CBN, including blaming the network for its franchise woes and the loss of jobs of its employees.

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said all comments and opinions of PNP personnel, associations, and sectoral groups on matters not related to the organization’s activities will be disowned by the PNP as unofficial and unauthorized.

He also encouraged all PNP personnel to use social media to establish “pro-active information and awareness activities” and to build a harmonious relationship with the community especially in this time of pandemic.

“Social media is an excellent public information and collaboration internet tool as we are facing a crisis today, operating within PNP regulations and established policies can mean a successful social media campaign, public relation and also police operations,” he added.

The post of the national task force was also shared by the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), but PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said the sharing of the content was “done without the usual vetting process.”

“That being said, the posted content is not in any way an official statement or an opinion of the PCOO,” he said in a statement. “The issue regarding ABS-CBN Corporation’s network franchise remains within the purview of Congress.”

The Office of the Presidential Spokesperson (OPS) also said in a separate statement that the task force’s posts did not come from their office nor from the NTF Strategic Communications, which is headed by OPS. OPS claimed the post is not an official statement.

The chief of the PNP is one of the members of the NTF-ELCAC under Executive Order No. 70 that created the task force and was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2018.

JPV