LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – Right after a group chat prank caused undue panic to Cebu City residents, it is now the turn of Oponganons to feel uneasy after a piece of fake news was posted on social media about the presence of a COVID-19 infected individual in the island.
The fake information has prompted Lapu-Lapu Mayor Junard Chan to order his IT team and the cybercrime group to help identify the source of the wrong information which was posted on March 15 and has since gone viral.
The malicious info was posted on a Facebook page named “Anonymous Lapu Lapu” with no real name or a profile picture of a person but bears the slogan: “KASUMBONGAN. NAGBALITA para sa OPONGANON.” It also uses the official logo of the 500th Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines.
Mayor Chan said the site does not belong to the city and has maliciously used the Quincentennial logo without permission.
The post on Anonymous Lapu-Lapu mentioned about a COVID-19 infected military man who was on board a C130 plane which reportedly landed at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base.
The man was already scheduled to be picked up by personnel from the Department of Health but was later confined at the airbase hospital, the post added.
The post said that the DOH was already conducting contact tracing to identify the military man’s fellow passengers on that plane.
The unknown message sender also asked Anonymous Lapu Lapu to hide his identity.
The message has 102 reactions, 58 comments and 162 shares that day.
Based on initial Investigation by the Mayor’s Office, the page has been posting fake news several times.
“Morag gusto ani niya nga mosikat oG maayo ang iyang page pero dili ni maayo kay mga fake news kasagaran ang iyang gipagawas, ” said Chan.
(It seems that the author is bent on making his page popular, but this is wrong because he posts mostly fake news just to grab attention).
Chan has been coordinating with the PNP Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Division to trace and identify the people behind this site.
“We will file a case against the persons behind this page” added Chan.
Chan’s IT team is also tracing the admin people behind the Anonymous Lapu Lapu page. /RCG