PNP orders probe on alleged ‘sabotage’ on vaccination program through ‘fake news’
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday ordered an investigation into the alleged sabotage through “fake news” against the COVID-19 inoculation program in some parts of Metro Manila, which caused thousands of individuals to flock to vaccination sites in a rush to get inoculated
“We are already looking into this and part of it is to trace the identity of the source of disinformation on vaccination being circulated on social media and text messages,” said PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar in a statement.
Eleazar then reiterated that there is no order to prevent unvaccinated people from going out of their homes.
He also said that Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año already assured that qualified beneficiaries of the cash assistance from the national government will be given “ayuda” or aid, regardless if they are vaccinated or not.
“Nais ko din magbigay ng paalala sa publiko na huwag basta-basta maniniwala sa mga kumakalat na impormasyon. Libre magtanong sa ating mga LGUs at mga ahensya. Maaari din tayong sumilip sa mga official websites ng mga government agencies at basahin ang mga announcements,” said Eleazar
(I also wanted to give a reminder to the public not to quickly believe widespread information. It is free to inquire at our LGUs and agencies. We can also look up official websites of government agencies and read the announcements.)
“Puwede din naman makibalita tayo sa mainstream media: sa TV, radyo o dyaryo. Maraming nanamantala sa pandemya at nagpapakalat ng maling impormasyon para makapanggulo lang kaya dapat ay maging mapanuri tayo,” he added.
(We can also stay informed with the mainstream media: on TV, radio or newspapers. Many are taking advantage of the pandemic and spread false information just to cause trouble so we must be discerning.)
This came after information circulated that unvaccinated persons would not be allowed to go outside and would not receive cash aid while the National Capital Region (NCR) is under enhanced community quarantine (EQC).
This caused massive crowds to rush to get COVID-19 jabs at some vaccination centers in Manila where at least 19,000 people were recorded to have stormed vaccination sites in the city, ahead of the lockdown over the region.
Malacañang has since then denied that the panic-vaccination stemmed from President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent pronouncement that unvaccinated people will be barred from going out of their homes, otherwise they’d be escorted home by the police.
The palace then attributed the panic to fake news.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila is currently under the strictest quarantine measure enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 6 to 20 due to the rising cases of the more transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant in the region.
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