Un-warranted' rumors

The "deployment exercises" of the PNP in relation to "rumors" of a warrant of arrest for former president Rodrigo Duterte issued by the ICC definitely fooled so many Filipinos.

- CITO BELTRAN

The rumor, passed on as "reports," was unverified if not a fabricated lie. What's interesting is that it happened as a result of, or just when the PNP was deploying 7,000 cops "for an election-related exercise."

But why was there no public advisory given to the media or local officials before the deployment exercises were conducted? As a result, all sorts of rumors and speculations have cropped up, none of them favorable to the administration.

While the Police Region 11 categorically denied the misleading and false information related to the deployment of 7,000 cops, the Committee on Peace and Public safety in Davao city declared that they were not informed of any simulation exercise to be conducted.

The optics of 7,000 cops being deployed at the airport fed the impression that the government was going to apply extreme use of force to arrest PRRD the same way the PNP did with Apollo Quiboloy.

That in turn caused people to worry about civil disturbance, rallies and violence on the streets. After two days of speculation and anxiety, people started to wonder if the PNP deployment was advanced planning for the declaration of martial law!

The timing of it all was really uncanny. First, the news spread that "Digong flew to China" instead of "Digong goes to Hong Kong to speak to OFWs."

Then the 7,000-strong PNP deployment happens, then rumors/reports come out that Digong would be arrested based on an ICC warrant.