(Eagle News) — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday, Feb. 11, ordered the Philippine National Police to arrest those behind the dissemination of fake news on the novel coronavirus.
Año issued the order after an infographic allegedly coming from the Department of the Interior and Local Government showed the government had banned travelers from 23 countries affected by the 2019-nCoV.
The Philippine government has so far only banned travel to and from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as a precaution.
“The unauthorized and patently illegal infographic went viral and caused panic among travelers whow anted to cancel their travel plans because of the misrepresentation of these people,” Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said.
“Again, we urge the public to trust only official sources of information and to verify first before sharing. Think first before you click,” he added.
Earlier, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a case build-up against those responsible for fake news on the virus.
