Eleazar slams socmed lockdown, martial law rumor mongers

(FILE PHOTO) Retired PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar.

MANILA, Philippines — Retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar who is seeking a Senate seat in the upcoming elections, slammed on Saturday netizens who are spreading rumors of a lockdown and martial law amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.

“Itong mga Maritess (rumormongerers) sa social media na nagpapakalat ng mga maling impormasyon tungkol sa COVID-19 ang dapat ma-i-lockdown. Hindi na nga nakakatulong, nakakaperwisyo pa… Dapat ipunin lahat ito at ilagay sa granular lockdown para sila-sila ang magtakutan at magbolahan,” Eleazar said in a statement.

(These rumor mongers in social media who spread misinformation about COVID-19 should be put under lockdown. They cause discord instead of helping. All of them should be rounded up and placed under granular lockdown so they could only scare each other.)

Eleazar said spreading rumors will only add to the public’s anxiety“which is not helping us at all.”

“By any means, it only adds to the anxiety of some and prolongs the agony of the public. It may also result in panic buying which is the least that we want to happen,” he added.

Eleazar urged the Anti-Cybercrime group to investigate the incident and trace the source of the rumors.

Malacañang and the Department of National Defense already denied the rumor.

The Department of Health reported 21,819 cases on Friday — the highest single-day increase since September 18 last year — in a trend that shows the continuous surge of cases in the country.

In total, the country reported 2,910,664 cases including 77,369 active cases, 2,781,424 recoveries, and 51,871 deaths, the DOH added.

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