With the proliferation of fake news: Magpale wants BIN trained on hoax

CEBU, Philippines - With the proliferation of fake information nowadays, Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale will lobby for the conduct of capability and detection trainings among the members of the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) in the province.

BIN, an anti-crime network created to further improve and maintain the province’s peace and order, is part of the auxiliary police force.  The BIN has been required to undergo training on intelligence gathering and basic public safety, among others.

Its members are only tasked to give information to barangay tanods – the so-called police agents – who would then relay the information to the police.

But Magpale said BIN members have to be further capacitated on verifying and gathering information.

Magpale said she will lobby and push the proposal before the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) in Central Visayas next week.

“Train them (BIN members) to verify (information),” she said.

It can be recalled that a string of false alarms and hoaxes about the presence of Abu Sayyaf bandits in Carcar City, and the towns of Cordova, Asturias and Poro in Camotes Island circulated following the clash between government forces and suspected rebel group in Bohol the other week.

Magpale reiterated that BIN, especially in coastal barangays, has to be reactivated.

“I will bring it up to the council. The networks have to be reactivated. Dili ra pinaagi sa paper,” she said.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, RPOC chairman, will convene the council members on May 3 from 12 noon to 5 p.m. in a hotel on Escario Street, Cebu City.

The regional security council is composed of chief executives of local government units, line agencies, the PNP and the military in Central Visayas.

Magpale said the budget for the conduct of trainings could be sourced from the governor’s intelligence fund.

The Cebu Provincial Peace and Order Council will also use Davide’s “confidential fund" in pursuit of its anti-illegal drugs campaign among other projects related to law enforcement.

It will be used to finance law enforcement partnerships between the Capitol and the police and other law enforcement agencies. (FREEMAN)