Mabatid faces investigation

CEBU, Philippines —  The Police Regional Office-7 will investigate the claims of Cebu City Councilor Niña Mabatid on Facebook that three people have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cebu.

PRO-7 Director Ignatius Ferro called on Mabatid to explain her posts, especially that the information has not been confirmed by the Department of Health (DOH).

Absent of any confirmation, the posts can be considered fake information, Ferro said.

While the posts have since been deleted, they reportedly alarmed netizens who have read them.

“We are asking her to explain to us why she had posted that they were three who allegedly died who were suspected to be COVID patient… Being a public official, she should be responsible enough in giving accurate, transparent, and open information," Ferro said.

Spreading false information is punishable under Section 8, Article 154 of the law on Unlawful Use of means of Publication and Unlawful utterance.

"She has all the rights, the privilege for a due process. We will see how the concerned police office will conduct the investigation because I'll be tasking the R7 to amplify the Cebu City Police Office," Ferro said.

Cebu City Police Office Director Hector Grijaldo, Jr. said they will invite Mabatid for questioning.

Freedom of expression

In a statement yesterday, Mabatid said: "My facebook is an avenue of my freedom of expression. I am a public official and Vice Chairwoman on the Committee on Health and I cannot help but react to the firsthand information I have received of the 3 deaths. But take note it's suspected because they were not tested. Why? Because our testing kits just arrived and they are not enough to test the PUIs and PUMs here in Cebu City. I have no intention to hurt DOH because we are one in this fight for COVID-19."

Mabatid said she believes the city is not COVID-19 free.

"In my opinion Cebu City is not COVID-FREE and I urge the DOH to fast track the testing before it’s too late," she said.

"My truthfulness may hurt my reputation but Im doing this for the Cebuanos. To the cebuanos, stay home!" she added.

City Health Officer Daisy Villa said it is not true that three have died of COVID-19 here. She confirmed that three died in the city recently but two of them have tested negative of COVID-19, including the 27-year-old woman who passed away due to tuberculosis meningitis. The city is waiting for the result of the test on the third person.

Under DOH protocol, those who are tested for COVID-19 are those considered persons under investigation.

Based on DOH data, there is only one positive case of COVID-19 in Cebu and this is the man who was confined at a hospital in Mandaue City. DOH-7 Director Jaime Bernadas said earlier that the man was already recovering when results of his test came out.

Mayor saddened

Mayor Edgardo Labella said he was saddened by the incident. "There's an investigation because no one should be spared," he said.

"We should stay focused. Kining ato karong gibuhat unta mag-usa ta. Magtinabangay ta nga likayan unta nato nga maghimo tag mga different opinions that could only trigger and cause panic, sometimes, and cause controversy or division (We should stay focused. We should unite, work together, and avoid making opinions that can trigger and cause panic, sometimes, even controversy and division)," he said.

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia, the majority floor leader at the City Council, said they will wait for the result of the PNP investigation and "we'll see from there what we're going to do."

Ferro said the police are monitoring social media for persons instigating panic by posting unverified information on COVID-19.

He encouraged the public to refrain from sharing unconfirmed information and wait for the agencies concerned to make an official announcement.  JMO (FREEMAN)