MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) will expand its “informative” social media engagement to boost public awareness on relevant public order and safety issues.
Maj. Gen. Dionardo Carlos, Police Community Relations director, said Friday that the agency will closely monitor actions taken by PNP units on the netizens’ reports sent through the agency’s social media platforms.
He said the organization’s policy on social media use seeks to address gaps and challenges encountered in previous memorandum circular on the PNP’s presence in social networking sites.
Carlos also cited recent analytics on PNP social media engagements that showed barely 25 percent of 1,776 official PNP social media pages are active.
“One issue that needs to be addressed is the seemingly reactive and passive stance of some PNP socmed (social media) pages that do not actively engage reports by netizens,” Carlos said in a statement.
Carlos explained that policies and guidelines on social media engagement by PNP units and personnel “emphasize on awareness of data privacy and anti-cybercrime laws, and accountability of PNP personnel and units in posting and sharing social media content.”
This move comes after Facebook took down over 100 fake domestic accounts and pages being linked to the Philippine military and police that target activists and dissidents, as well as over 150 others based in China that support President Rodrigo Duterte and the possible presidential bid by his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Carlos echoed an earlier statement by PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan saying the national police “respects the administrative actions taken by Facebook on what they perceive to be violations of its terms of use.”
He stressed that the social media accounts being managed by the PNP and its units are “aligned with the objectives of the organization in promoting advocacy for honest, transparent, and truthful social engagement over cyberspace.”
“We will continue to adhere to our institutional policy that follows proper decorum in all public engagements including social media platforms, chat groups, and private sites,” Carlos added.