ILOILO CITY, Philippines—The social network site Facebook, which has been tapped by the Philippine National Police to keep track of and help arrest criminals, has caught a rookie policeman here literally with his pants down.
Three policemen, including the rookie, are now facing dismissal from the service for uploading the nude photo of one of them to Facebook.
They were identified as police officers 1 Roland Rivera, Christian Ray Gallofin and Jay R. Evangelio.
Rivera uploaded to his Facebook account the nude photo of Gallofin. Rivera and Evangelio were also in the photo with Gallofin but they were clothed.
‘Just for fun’
Gallofin claimed that he did not know the photo would be uploaded.
Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol, Western Visayas police director, said Rivera and Evangelio wore police shirts.
“They claimed it was just for fun. But that is not acceptable because it can be seen by anyone,” Querol said.
He said the behavior was “uncalled for” and tainted the reputation of the PNP.
Unbecoming of an officer
Rivera, Gallofin and Evangelio have been restricted to the regional police headquarters in Camp Martin Delgado here pending an investigation, said Querol.
He said the three would be liable for conduct unbecoming of an officer.
The three, who admitted to posting the photo online, were undergoing field training program at the regional police training school in Bacolod City when the photo was taken and eventually uploaded to Facebook.
The Facebook accounts of the policemen have been deactivated last week, according to a statement of the PNP regional office.
Police-related matters
Querol has directed unit commanders to warn their men against uploading indecent photos, video and other materials online.
He reminded police units that the use of the Internet by policemen on duty was allowed only for police-related matters.