San Fernando ‘kill list’ a hoax – Sinas

The San Fernando town council discusses the alleged kill lists circulating in social media during their regular session on Monday, March 4. |Tonee Despojo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — “Fake news and a hoax.”

This was how Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas described the so-called ‘kill lists,’ or hit lists containing the names of elected public officials of San Fernando, which were reportedly circulating on social media. 

Sinas said the kill lists making the rounds among social media users residing in San Fernando could possibly be products of the ‘residents who have nothing to do in their free time.’ 

He added that, as of the moment, they had not received any reports or copies of the so-called ‘kill lists.’ 

Read more: San Fernando Council to seek NBI’s help on tracing online kill lists’ accounts

But nevertheless, Sinas said they would be checking as to who might be behind this. 

“It is most likely that it is fake news and a hoax. We suspected that naging favorite pasttime na ito nang mga tao sa San Fernando. But we will be checking as to who are the people behind it,” he said. 

“Possibly, it all started when some people reacted to it, and na timingan nga duol na ang elections so gisakyan,” he added. 

The San Fernando Town Council convened for a special session on Monday, March 4, to shed light on the concerns raised by private individuals that they had been receiving kill-lists recently. 

In a separate interview, Police Captain Lymel Pasquin, San Fernando Police Station chief, encouraged public officials and private citizens, who claimed to have received the kill lists, to report and file a blotter report before their office. 

“We still don’t know where these lists came from, but we urge them to come to the office, and have it on the record so we can seek assistance from the Anti-Cybercrime Unit of the PNP (Philippine National Police). We are willing to investigate it,” Pasquin said./dbs