Mayor Luigi Quisumbing (CDN FILE PHOTO)
THE Mandaue City government is going after the person who posted a fake kidnapping incident in Mandaue City on Facebook which went viral.
Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luis Quisumbing said he referred the fake kidnapping post on Facebook to the City Legal Office for a possible filing of a case against the person involved.
Quisumbing said that it’s up to the City Legal Office how they would trace the account, which had been deactivated and could not be found on Facebook, with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division or any agency that could trace the account.
The mayor is also calling on the public to be careful of their posts in social media sites because these may cause worry, anxiety and stress on other people.
“If they are not sure of it, they must not post it on social media as it caused stress, anxiety and worry to the public,” said Quisumbing in a comment on his FB page.
The fake kidnapping account posted on Facebook went viral during the weekend and was noticed by Quisumbing.
The mayor said he ordered the police to check the incident and that was when they found out that the FB post was a hoax
Supt. Melbert Esguerra of the Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB) said there were no records and reports that there were persons kidnapped in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City.
The Mandaue City government and the police are now tracing the account of Sanche Rosell who posted the hoax kidnapping on his page on Nov. 12 on Saturday at 7:55 p.m.
The post claimed to warn the public especially female teenagers because a van had allegedly kidnapped at 6 p.m. that day a female teenager in Barangay Tabok. The post also claimed that there were several female teenagers inside the van and that the kidnappers were armed with Armalite rifles.
The post already had 471 shares, 75 likes and 67 comments as of 2:53 p.m Sunday. One of the Facebook comment asked Rosell where she had heard of it, and she replied that she just heard it from her uncle who heard it from another person.
The Sanche Rosell account could no longer be found since yesterday morning and was believed to have been already deactivated.