Chalssea Kate Echegoyen

Article (news)

Andrea Taguines

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday said it has identified five persons of interest allegedly behind social media posts that it said spread false information and incite violence in the aftermath of the gunfire incident at the Senate on Wednesday night.</p><p>DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the agency, together with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), immediately activated threat monitoring operations after chaos erupted in the upper chamber.</p><p>“Ang ginagawa nila is maghikayat ng mga tao, through false information, na pumunta sa Senado tapos makigulo,” Aguda said during the launch of free Wi-Fi services for Pasig River ferry passengers.</p><p>(What they are doing is encourage people, through false information, to go to the Senate and join the chaos)</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/14/senate-timeline-what-happened-on-may-13-2026-0040"><strong>SENATE TIMELINE: What happened on May 13, 2026</strong></a></div><p>“Lilinawin namin — political speech, freedom of expression, pino-protektahan po natin ‘yan. Isa po ‘yan sa mga rights natin. Pero pagka nagtatawag ka na ng away, medyo may problema tayo doon,” he said.</p><p>(Let us be clear — political speech, freedom of expression are protected. But when you call for violence, we may have a problem with that)</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>COLLABORATION WITH ONLINE PLATFORMS</strong></div><p>Aguda said social media platforms have community standards prohibiting content that incites violence.</p><p>He said the platforms have been coordinating with Philippine authorities.</p><p>“Ang procedure po ng social media platforms, tinatanggal ‘yun. Bawal po ‘yan,” he said.</p><p>(The procedure with social media platforms is they remove those posts. Those are not allowed)</p><p>He said the platforms document and preserve these posts in case they may be used for criminal proceedings in the future.</p><p>Asked whether the individuals involved could face charges, Aguda replied: “Oo naman… (Of course) with the appropriate case siyempre.”</p><p>He added that the government’s threat monitoring center includes not only cyber experts but also lawyers who assess online posts for possible legal violations.</p><p>“Tapos pag may violation, may isa pang abogado na maghahandle ng processing to endorse it to the appropriate law enforcement agency,” he said.</p><p>(If there is a violation, another lawyer handles the processing to endorse it to the proper law enforcement agency)</p><p>Aguda also urged the public to be more discerning about information circulating online, especially amid the rise of deepfakes and manipulated content.</p><p>He advised Filipinos to rely on verified and legitimate news sources for accurate information.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rtb4pLuJ0R8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday said it has identified five persons of interest allegedly behind social media posts that it said spread false information and incite violence in the aftermath of the gunfire incident at the Senate on Wednesday night.</p>

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday said it has identified five persons of interest allegedly behind social media posts that it said spread false information and incite violence in the aftermath of the gunfire incident at the Senate on Wednesday night.

DICT flags persons of interest in posts allegedly inciting violence after Senate chaos

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DICT flags persons of interest in posts allegedly inciting violence after Senate chaos

Andrea Taguines,

ABS-CBN News,

Published May 14, 2026 02:02 PM PHT

Read More:

fake news

DICT

persons of interest

Senate shooting

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