• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod has approved on third and final reading July 15 an ordinance establishing official emergency information and public warning protocols, as well as the mechanisms against disinformation during emergencies and disasters.
There is an urgent need to establish a centralized, reliable, and coordinated emergency communication system to ensure the immediate dissemination of verified information to the public, proponent-councilors Caesar Distrito and Psyche Marie Sy said.
This as they noted an “increasing prevalence of misinformation, disinformation, and unverified social media content during emergencies, calamities, health crises, and public disturbances (that) has caused panic, confusion, and disruption of public order.”
The ordinance calls for the creation of the Bacolod Emergency Communication System (BECS) under the supervision of the City Mayor, through the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, in coordination with the City Information Office and other concerned agencies.
The BECS shall serve as the official source of emergency announcements and advisories of the city government; establish a unified communication protocol during emergencies and disasters; coordinate with barangays, schools, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and media outlets for the dissemination of verified information; and monitor and immediately counter false, misleading, or malicious information relating to emergencies or public safety, among others.
“Any officer, employee, contractual personnel, job order worker, consultant, or any person engaged by the city government of Bacolod who, without justifiable cause and with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of the truth, creates, publishes, disseminates, shares, endorses, or causes the dissemination of false or malicious information relating to emergencies, disasters, calamities, public disturbances, health crises, official advisories, or other matters covered by the BECS…shall be subject to appropriate administrative proceedings,” the ordinance states. | CGC
