PNP warns content creators vs crime pranks

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday discouraged content creators from staging a fake crime incident, reminding them of its possible legal liabilities.

“Kung gusto niyo gumawa ng content na fiction, siguraduhin niyo na maliwanag sa lahat for entertainment purposes gumagawa kayo ng ganyang content,” PNP chief Police General Nicolas Torre III said at a press briefing.

(If you want to create content that is fiction, make sure it is clear to everyone that you are creating such content for entertainment purposes.)

“Pero yung gagawa kayo ng content para bang may disorder sa isang area...iyan ay nagbibigay ng masamang impresyon. At ang naapektuhan nyan, hindi lang pulis, pati ang community mismo na para bang wala nang law and order,” he added.

(But if you create content that makes it seem like there is disorder in an area...that gives a bad impression. And what is affected by that is not only the police, but also the community itself, as if there is no law and order.)

Torre made the warning after the Police Regional Office 7 (PRO7) reported that a complaint has been filed against a vlogger for claiming that a video of a brawl inside a bus in Cebu was a robbery incident.

“Ang nasabing video ay unang nag-viral noong Hulyo 22, 2025, matapos itong i-share ng isang radio station mula sa orihinal na post ng vlogger na may alyas na ‘Jaissle,’” PRO7 earlier said.

(The said video first went viral on July 22, 2025, after it was shared by a radio station from the original post of a vlogger with the alias “Jaissle.”)

“Kaagad nagsagawa ng imbestigasyon ang kapulisan, at lumabas sa kanilang validation na ang insidente ay hindi snatching, kundi isang simpleng personal na alitan na naganap noong Mayo 8, 2025, sa bahagi ng Yati, Liloan, Cebu,” it added.

(The police immediately conducted an investigation, and their validation revealed that the incident was not snatching, but a simple personal dispute that occurred on May 8, 2025, in the area of Yati, Liloan, Cebu.)

The vlogger is facing a complaint for unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances under the Revised Penal Code in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

If proven guilty, the vlogger will be punished with six to 12 years of imprisonment and jail time. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News