Philippine National Police (PNP) Acting Chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to intensify its cyber patrols against online content creators, who may take advantage of the three-day assemblies to post and spread fabricated claims intended to agitate and encourage the people to violate the law.
Nartatez emphasized that while the PNP fully respects the freedom to air grievances, this must be exercised responsibility and does not excuse deliberate actions to mislead and distort facts aimed at manipulating the general public.
“The presence of your Philippine National Police will not only be in the assembly areas and on the roads, but also on cyberspace in order to run after those who would dare to take advantage of this situation to mislead the public through fake news and fabricated claims,” said Nartatez.
“I already tasked our PNP-ACG to monitor all of these and take the necessary legal action. We respect the freedom of speech and the freedom to air grievances, but these do not include false claims and fake contents,” he added.
Nartatez emphasized that while the situation on the ground remains calm, the PNP has detected several posts circulating across social platforms falsely claiming a supposed crowd build-up or imminent disorder in Mendiola.
“We have seen some posts spreading false information about the alleged crowd build-up. Our ground units have verified repeatedly that there is no such situation,” he said.
The PNP acting chief warned that certain online actors appear to be deliberately sowing tension ahead of the protest.
“Our monitoring indicates that some of these accounts are intentionally exaggerating the situation to create unnecessary fear. We do not underestimate this online manipulation because it can translate to real-world panic or mobilization,” Nartatez noted.
“There are initial indicators of coordinated activity, including possible bot-generated posts. We are validating these with our Anti-Cybercrime Group. Rest assured, we are taking proactive steps to disrupt these attempts,” the he added.
Nartatez also disclosed that the PNP is observing accounts with a pattern of spreading unverified rally-related alerts.
“We are monitoring accounts that have a history of spreading false alerts or mobilizing people based on unverified information. But I want to emphasize: our monitoring is within the bounds of the law. We do not interfere with legitimate expression or dissent,” he said.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) earlier announced that it would hold a three-day protest from November 16 to 18 at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, which would be open to both members and non-members advocating government accountability.
Authorities said 100,000 attendees are expected to join the INC protest at the Quirino Grandstand while thousands more are set to conduct protests in other parts of Metro Manila.
The PNP will deploy more than 16,000 police personnel to secure the demonstrations.
To prevent misinformation from fueling unnecessary tensions, Nartatez appealed to the public to practice responsible sharing.
“I just ask the public to be careful when sharing. Don’t just forward if it’s not verified. Sometimes, we can add to the chaos unintentionally. Always check official PNP channels for updates. Information discipline is everyone’s responsibility,” Nartatez said.
