Several posts online are claiming that the Philippine National Police (PNP) released a memorandum preventing police officers from expressing their support for former president Rodrigo Duterte on social media. This needs context.
Since March 13, several posts have been published by various social media pages repeating the same erroneous claim. One post read:
“Nagpalabas ng isang memorandum ang Philippine National Police (PNP) na nagbabawal sa mga tao nito na mag-post o magpakita ng suporta kay dating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Ang sinumang lalabag sa kautusang ito ay maaaring managot sa kasong simple neglect of duty.
(The PNP released a memorandum forbidding its personnel from making any post showing support for former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Anyone who fails to comply with this order will be charged with simple neglect of duty).”
The posts include a copy of a “restricted” memorandum initially leaked to Davao-based community media SunStar Davao a day after the misleading claims emerged, where several police officers were reprimanded by the PNP Regional Office 2 for expressing their political views on the International Criminal Court’s arrest of Duterte.
Duterte’s name was not mentioned at all in the leaked memo, aside from the posts used as examples that violated the PNP’s guidelines.
There is no memorandum explicitly prohibiting police personnel from speaking out in support of Duterte. However, the PNP has guidelines on ethical social media posting – which the reprimanded police officers violated in the leaked memo.
Read the full story on VERA Files Fact Check.
