Renato Reyes Jr. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police is using the coronavirus disease pandemic to turn the country into a police state, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary-general Renato Reyes said.
The head of the activist group said this in reaction to the Philippine National Police’s order to monitor social media for quarantine violators.
“Daming dapat gawin sa halip na magbabad kayo sa Facebook. PNP wants to use the pandemic to turn us into a police state, where every move is being watched,” Reyes wrote on Twitter.
(There are so many things to do instead of just monitoring Facebook.PNP wants to use the pandemic to turn us into a police state, where every move is being watched.)
Now the PNP wants to monitor FB and Twitter to look for quarantine violators. How? What guidelines? What standards? Daming dapat gawin sa halip na magbabad kayo sa Facebook. PNP wants to use the pandemic to turn us into a police state, where every move is being watched. https://t.co/nObMKRxtaB
— Renato Reyes, Jr. (@natoreyes) September 5, 2020
Reyes questioned the move and asked the police force to reveal guidelines in inspecting the social media sites.
“Now the PNP wants to monitor FB and Twitter to look for quarantine violators. How? What guidelines? What standards?” he asked.
Earlier, quarantine enforcers Joint Task Force COVID Shield ordered police commanders to regularly check social media sites for quarantine violators including those engaging in drinking sessions which violates social distancing.