PNP asked: What happened to Cebu Flash Report case?

Cebu Flash Report logo (Photo grabbed from CFR FB page)

ADMINISTRATORS of Cebu Flash Report (CFR) are not yet off the hook for a Facebook post it made last July 2017 which claimed that a bomb was placed near a store in Barangay Basak in Lapu-Lapu City.

Despite claiming in a Facebook thread that the matter was “already resolved two months ago,” Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, the regional director of Police Regional Office 7 (PRO-7), denied that they had reached any settlement with CFR in a closed-door meeting.

“We are still in the process of filing a complaint. As for now, we cannot give out any details until it is filed,” said Espino.

The bomb “news” was posted last July 4, 2017. Police rushed to the area to check the “bomb” only to find a cassette player that did not contain any improvised explosive device.

Regional Anti-Cybercrime Office (Raco) 7 Chief Leo Dofiles said the investigation was finished two to three weeks after former PRO-7 director Noli Taliño directed them to investigate the issue.

“We already finished the investigation identifying the administrators, evidences together with the affidavits of witnesses. When I submitted the investigation report to PRO-7, wa na ko kabalo og unsa na nahitabo after (I do not know what happened afterwards),” said Dofiles.

Dofiles did not divulge specific names when probed about how many persons of interest were listed in the investigation report.

Meanwhile, Espino did not give a definite answer why it took four months for the filing of the case against CFR.

He said they could proceed with the case filing now that the “CFR folder” had been located.

However, Espino did not specify when the case would be filed.

Espino answered questions from officials and members of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ), who followed up on the case in a move to take a stronger and more concrete stand against fake news.

CFBJ President Elias Baquero recalled an investigation conducted on the bomb news posted by CFR.

But there was no follow-up report on the filing of the complaint, prompting CFBJ members to seek audience with police officials.

Baquero said this should serve as a warning to any group or individual who spreads fake news.

“Members of the local media are asking the police for results on this issue. The PNP (Philippine National Police) leadership may have acknowledged this is a hot issue because they said they will file the case. The (eventual) filing by the PNP of the case against CFR is a warning to all people not to commit fake news,” said Baquero.

CFBJ was established in 2000 and is the biggest media federation outside of Manila with 11 media organizations and 200 member-reporters.