CEBU CITY – A 21-year-old man in Danao City, Cebu is facing charges after he posted on his Facebook account that a man and a woman aboard a white van tried to abduct him before eventually admitting that he just made up the kidnap try.
Police Lt. Col. Maribel Getigan, chief of the Danao City police, said they will pursue the filing of a criminal case against the man to teach him a lesson and warn other individuals who will come up with similar fake stories to sow fear.
“We will file alarm and scandal in relation to anti-cybercrime law. The post really created panic among the people in Danao,” said Getigan.
Police are withholding the name of the man pending the formal filing of charges.
“We will be submitting the documents as evidence to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit and they will be the ones to file the charges,” said Getigan.
It was last Monday night when the man posted on his Facebook account how a man and woman tried to convince him to ride with them in a white van. The man said that while he was walking away, he heard children crying inside the van.
The post had attracted at least 5,000 reactions before it was taken down.
“We were able to secure a screenshot of the post. When that post started circulating, the vice mayor and other city officials called me up to check what was going on. They were asking if there were really kidnappers roaming around the city,” said Getigan.
Getigan said they reviewed the footage of the security camera installed in the area where the supposed kidnap try took place.
“Almost all areas in the city have security cameras. We checked the footage during the time that the supposed incident happened but we didn’t see any white van,” Getigan said.
The man was brought to the Danao police station last Tuesday where he admitted that he just made up the story.
“In front of the vice mayor, he admitted that what he posted was not true. He even asked forgiveness. Maybe he just did it for fun or ride on with what he has been seeing on social media,” said Getigan.
The man was later released but the police have coordinated with social workers so they can attend to him.
“We endorsed him to the city social welfare office so he could undergo psychological intervention because we want to find out if he is in normal state of mind,” the Danao police chief added.
There had been several social media posts about kidnapping attempts in the province but Police Major Anthony Autencio, deputy chief, Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group Visayas Field Unit, described these posts as “fake news.”
Police Col. Geovanie Maines, the deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas, warned that the police will run after those who are spreading fake kidnapping incidents.
“They better think twice because it is not doing any good. It is creating confusion and fear especially among parents,” said Maines, who is also the officer-in-charge of the Cebu City Police Office.
Maines stressed that they have yet to receive a single kidnapping incident in any area in the region.
“As the DRDO and OIC of the Cebu City police, I have not any receive any report of kidnapping. We are asking the public to stay calm and not to patronize these kinds of reports,” said Maines. (Calvin D. Cordova)
