By PR | 12:20 AM December 05, 2019
A student was arrested Tuesday for posting in his social media account fake abductions allegedly by men in white van causing alarm to the public, Cebu provincial police director Colonel Roderick Mariano said Wednesday.
Mariano identified the fake news culprit as Brigs Granada Alvaro, 21, a resident of Sitio Taboc, Barangay Lo-oc, Danao City.
This happened amidst reports of abductions of teenagers by still unidentified groups of men using vans in Metro Manila. News reports said the abducted victims were being harvested of their vital organs for unknown reason.
City police chief Lieutenant Colonel Maribel Getigan said Alvaro was arrested in their home and was brought to the police station for investigation.
“We are preparing a criminal case for violation of the Revised Penal Code, particularly Alarm and Scandal in relation to (Cyber Crime Law), Section 6, Republic Act 10175,” Getigan said.
She said that Alvaro was brought to the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) for psychological examination.
“He is up for psychological assessment whether or not he is on his normal state of mind,” she said.
“His action of posting malicious message to the social media had caused panic to the public which is tantamount to criminal offense,” she added.
In his post, Alvaro wrote an “alleged attempted kidnapping victimizing his self and perpetrated by unidentified male and female person using a white van.”
The social media account was traced to Alvaro and a team of policemen together with representatives from the City government went to his house to arrest him.
“His (Alvaro) malicious post caused panic and rattled Danawanons especially those parents who had their children outside the house,” Getigan said.
“Alvaro voluntarily offered a statement that the post was a mere false story and his intention is to give warning only to those young adults who are always roaming around the city during night time,” she added.
