NBI to probe ‘fake news’ audio clip on ‘total lockdown’ — Guevarra

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will look into the audio clip warning of a "total lockdown" that circulated on social media but has been dismissed as false by the government.

"I will ask NBI to investigate this phone clip on social media that seeks to agitate and alarm the public with a falsehood," Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a message to reporters on Monday.

The Philippine National Police is conducting its own investigation to determine who created and spread the audio clip, whose contents Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya has branded as "fake news."

"Narinig ko po ang voice clip na 'yun at unang dinig ko pa lamang ay alam ko na na fake news kasi wala pong ganoong direktiba ang ating pamahalaan. Wala pa pong desisyon ang ating Pangulo sa anumang klaseng sinasabing total lockdown na 'yan," Malaya said during the Laging Handa briefing on Monday.

GMA News and Public Affairs has also disowned the clip.

"Nililinaw ng GMA News and Public Affairs na hindi si Ms. Jessica Soho ang babae na nasa audio clip. Hindi rin gumagawa ng ganoong pahayag si Ms. Soho. Nanawagan po kami sa publiko na huwag nang i-share ang voice clip, na maaaring magdala ng kalituhan sa mga tao," it said in a statement on Sunday night.

The Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine is set to last until April 30. There is a "50/50" chance of President Rodrigo Duterte lifting the quarantine, according to his spokesman Harry Roque.

The NBI's Cybercrime Division has an ongoing investigation of online misinformation related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The bureau has sent out subpoenas to several individuals, including a social media user who published a post about the government purportedly buying a P2-billion jet instead of providing health care for Filipinos. — RSJ, GMA News