DOJ Cybercrime: We take online threats, whether vs politicians or ordinary citizens, seriously
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime refers kill threats to authorities, whether they are against a politician or an ordinary citizen, to preserve evidence in case a full-blown investigation is needed, it said Thursday.
"Our office treats everyone equally and we provide the same services to anyone who seeks our assistance. We don’t look at personalities. It is our standard procedure to take a look into every report or complaint whether the same is actionable or not," the cybercrime office’s OIC Charito Zamora said in an exhange with Philstar.com.
In the case of the supposed "assassination" threat against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. based on a comment made on popular video-sharing app Tiktok, the cybercrime office merely "proceeded in such a way that would keep the integrity and availability of the computer data," Zamora added.
In a message, the DOJ OOC chief explained that the preservation of computer data in the reported threat is for "purposes of full-blown investigations to be conducted by law enforcement authorities."
"We do not categorically say that the same is credible, instead we acted promptly to ensure that there will be available electronic leads," she said.
Zamora said electronic leads are "volatile in nature", making it important to preserve as much information about the supposed threat as possible.
The DOJ confirmed over the weekend that it received a text message reporting a comment on a video by TikTok account @joiedevivre420, which reads: "Nagmemeeeting kami araw araw para paghandaang ipa assassinate naming si BBM humanda kayo.” (We are meeting everyday to prepare to assassinate [Marcos']. Be prepared."
The Marcos campaign announced the existence of the supposed threat, citing information from the justice department.
Credibility of threat
As of mid-week, the DOJ OOC said they are are still gathering information to support the application for a disclosure warrant — which is needed for TikTok to give them information that they asked the app developer to preserve.
This move is still part of the government's attempt to determine whether the supposee threat is credible, Zamora said.
"In determining whether a kill threat is credible, it should be analyzed together with all the other facts and circumstances surrounding the threat," she added.
"The period within which a kill threat is determined to be credible depends on the data to be disclosed by TikTok upon service of a duly-issued warrant to disclose computer data by our law enforcement authorities," she added.
Meanwhil, the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group said they took screenshots of the alleged comments for further investigation.
Police Brig. Gen. Robert Rodriguez, PNP ACG director, noted in a report in The STAR that TikTok "is something that people don’t take seriously," as it is a platform used to share videos of dancing, lip synching, acting and dubbing.
"So, before we conclude anything with regard to the online threat, we have to investigate and validate the veracity of the report," Rodriguez added.
The case of Ronnel Mas
Authorities have, in the past, acted on threats made over social media.
In May 2020, NBI agents arrested teacher Ronnel Mas over a tweet offering a P50-million bounty to anyone who would kill President Rodrigo Duterte.
Based on a VERA Files report, the tweet was posted on Mas' account on May 5 of that year. He was arrested without a warrant six days later, slapped with an inciting to sedition complaint and haled to court.
The Olongapo City court however dismissed the charge due to the illegality of Mas' arrest. Warrantless arrests are only allowed in very specific circumstances, like when the alleged crime is about to be committed, is being committed, or had just been committed.
The complaint was refiled before a Zambales prosecutor and again junked.
NBI Cybercrime Division chief Vic Lorenzo has yet to reply to Philstar.com’s inquiry on its investigation into the alleged plot against Marcos.
Asked about leads on who might be behind the supposed kill threat against Marcos, the former senator's spokesperson Vic Rodriguez told reporters: "Initially, ang lumalabas nga ay yung isang youth-oriented na grupo na identified as communist, yun yung pinupursue na lead."
(Initially, it seems that it is a youth-oriented group identified as communist, this is the lead being pursued.)
Rodriguez refused to name the group and instead said that the disclosure should should come from authorities.
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