The commander of the task force that implements quarantine regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic has stirred up some controversy by saying police would now regularly monitor social media platforms for violations.
“The social media are full of photos and evidence of hardheaded people deliberately violating the quarantine protocols,” Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the task force, said in a statement. “These can be used as pieces of evidence to warn, to fine and to summon the people concerned in coordination with the barangay officials concerned.”
Eleazar said the directive, issued by PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan, covers violations of minimum health safety standard protocols such as mass gathering for drinking sessions and other forms of celebrations.
The announcement immediately drew fire from critics on the left, who accused law enforcement officials of using the pandemic to turn the Philippines into a police state “where every action is being watched by the authorities.”
The Commission on Human Rights has also weighed in against the monitoring.
“While we recognize that the right to privacy is not absolute, any interference or surveillance must be subject to the standards of necessity, legitimacy, and proportionality,” the commission said. “Otherwise, violation of these standards, especially if not founded on legal measures, may lead to offenses against the people’s rights. This is a scenario that we wish to avoid noting that we look upon the police as law enforcers and not as the first ones breach laws.”
But Eleazar defended the social media monitoring, saying the police would not violate anybody's privacy. He noted, for example, that the police can only monitor posts that are public, viral photos and videos, as well as any complaints reported by concerned citizens through the social media pages of the police.
The argument seems reasonable—as long as the police limit their monitoring to what people post publicly. After all, we expect our law enforcement agents to monitor the streets and other public places for crime; monitoring social media pages would be no different. Besides, any violators of quarantine restrictions foolish enough to post photographic evidence of their misdeeds on social media deserve to get caught.
But it seems the task force commander is missing an excellent opportunity to show the public how serious the police take these quarantine violations.
Back in May, photos appeared on the police force's Facebook page showing Metro Manila police chief Debold Sinas whooping it up with his men, who threw him a birthday party. The photos showed Sinas celebrating his birthday along with dozens of people without masks sitting close together, in clear violation of quarantine restrictions, with beer cans on their tables despite an alcohol ban.
Rather than brush these blatant violations aside or sweeping them under the rug simply because they were committed by a fellow police officer, Eleazar can use the case to demonstrate the utility of discovering wrongdoing in social media.