By LITO RULONA
and JOEY NACALABAN
Correspondents .
THE Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) will ask the cybercrime unit at Camp Alagar to help in identifying the source of what it called as fake news about how officers mauled a robbery suspect.
Chief Insp. Mario Mantala, Macasandig police commander, said the fake news was actually a photograph of a bloodied suspect that went viral on Facebook. He said it was made to appear that the suspect, bloodied, was beaten up by members of the Macasandig police.
The post, made this Dec. 2, was traced to one “Hostado Abogado,” apparently a false name.
Cocpo spokesman Supt. Mardi Hortillosa said city police director Senior Supt. Nelson Aganon has directed his subordinates to bring the matter to the attention of the cybercrime unit in Camp Alagar in the hope that it can identify “Hostado Abogado.”
Hortillosa said the police would likely file a case against the person behind the viral photo if he or she is identified.
“Duna say uban diha nga ga-comment dayun without any verification kung fake news ba o tinuod,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Macasandig police strongly denied that the man in the photo, Janbert Pagula of Opol, Misamis Oriental, was mauled by police officers who had a drink too many inside the police station.
Police said Pagula was arrested for a Nov. 29 robbery at a convenience store in Macasandig. The robbery was carried out by a group of men that fled towards 20th Sts., Nazareth, on a Suzuki motorcycle.
According to the police, Pagula, one of the suspects, was merely turned over to the police by concerned citizens. Police said the suspect was mauled by an angry mob before he was handed over to authorities who then brought the suspect to the JR Borja Memorial General Hospital.
“Gikuha namo nang maong suspek didto sa lugar nga diin siya nadakpan. Dugoon na kaayo na siya kay sa among nahibaw-an gikulata diay siyag ayo sa mga tawo didto,” Mantala said.
He said the suspect even thanked the police for coming on time because he would have been killed by the angry mob.
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