MANILA, Philippines – The public again became a victim of fake news after a netizen admitted that he was lying when he told media that his account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands had ballooned to over P12 billion amid a widespread system error experienced by the BPI last month.
The bank accused Daniel Angelo Salasalan of falsifying private documents and committing online libel. A complaint was filed against him at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which later on lodged a case against Salasalan before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office.
If found guilty of falsifying private documents, Salasalan would be imprisoned for up to six months and up to 12 years if the court proves that he had also committed online libel.
Salasalan posted on his Facebook page and later told reporters that he only had P12,000 in his bank account but he was shocked when he found out last June 7 that this swelled to P12.4 billion. The following day, he claimed that from P12.4 billion, his account balance became zero and later on was debited with P8.1 million.
BPI knew that Salasalan was lying. The statements he spread via media prompted the bank to seek help from the NBI’s Cybercrime Division that later confirmed that Salasalan’s claims were fake.
“He used falsified documents alleging na galing ‘yon sa kanyang [it came from his] account with BPI. But the truth is walang [there are no] documents or entry sa kanyang [in his] account pertaining to the P12 billion and P8 million,” said Manuel Eduarte, chief of the NBI’s Cybercrime Division.
“There is a verification conducted by the bank and (it was) very much different do’n sa pinost ni [from what was posted by] Mr. Salasalan,” added Eduarte.
Salasalan admitted that he gave media false information about his account with the BPI during the bank glitch last month.
He said he knew that his public statements were detrimental to the bank and that he didn’t realize early on the consequences of spreading fake news.
“Nais ko pong humingi ng tawad sa nagawa ko po sa interview ng CNN Philippines at ABS-CBN. Inaamin ko po na hindi totoo ang mga posting na ‘yon. Alam ko po malaking dagok sa bangko ang nagawa ko po,” he said in a letter.
“Hindi ko po akalain na ang fake news ko ay lalaki ng ganito,” he said.
Salasalan regretted what he did and said that what he posted on social media was just a joke and that he just wanted to feel like a millionaire. He said he never thought that media would come out with news based on his FB posts.
“Nagpost po ako akala ko po ay joke lang ang lahat hindi ko po akalain na ilalabas ito ng CNN Philippines at ng ABS-CBN. Nais ko po sana maging feeling milyonaryo pero mali pala ang nagawa ko at pinagsisisihan ko po ito.”
He said what he did was just for fun and he would be ready to take back all the statements he made during his media interviews last month.
“Yung…post ko noon June 08, 2017 sa aking Facebook regarding 12 billion at 8 billion…bilang katuwaan lang, ngunit hindi ko naisip na mali at hindi ito paglaruang post sa social media. Handa ako bawiin sa media lahat nasabi ko sa interview,” said Salasalan.
Eduarte warned individuals active on social media against spreading fake information and granting media interviews about their claims.
“Hindi biro…ito. Siguro kung kay magkakaibigan, pero kung may press na nag-iinterview sa’yo, hindi na biro ang treatment nito [This isn’t a joke. Maybe if it’s told among friends, but if the press is already interviewing you, it is no longer treated as a joke],” the NBI official said.
