The Commission on Elections and the Office of Civil Defense have requested the National Telecommunications Commission to investigate reports that the country’s emergency alert system was being misused by candidates for their election campaigns.
The OCD said it is “coordinating with relevant agencies to… ensure that those responsible are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The country’s Emergency Cell Broadcast System (ECBS) was created in 2014 by the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act, or Republic Act No. 10639, which carries penal provisions and fines. If found guilty of violating telecommunications laws, a candidate can also be disqualified by the Comelec.
The OCD said in a statement that the alert system, implemented in 2017, was created to assist people in disaster situations such as earthquakes, typhoons, and other public safety threats. “The misuse of this system for political gain is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” said the OCD, the implementing arm of the interagency National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
There are reports that residents from certain provinces have received emergency alerts containing political messages campaigning for specific candidates. “These messages, designed to mimic urgent emergency notifications, create confusion and may lead to complacency during real crises,” the OCD said.
Comelec Chair George Garcia warned that those behind the illegal use of ECBS are putting people in danger.
Authorities urged the public to remain vigilant and report any misuse of the ECBS to the OCD, which can file the appropriate complaint with the NTC.
An initial investigation of the OCD said that telcos have denied utilizing the ECBS for any “nonemergency and any political campaign alerts.” They claim to have not offered any ECBS services to private individuals or companies for any purpose other than genuine emergencies.
Anyone who uses or allows the ECBS to broadcast anything other than genuine emergencies has to be penalized to the fullest extent of the law, as such acts undermine the effectiveness of the system that should only be used during emergencies. In addition, those who have found creative ways to mimic an emergency broadcast should also be brought to account as well, because we cannot have an emergency broadcast system that ends up being ignored because it has been compromised and starts disseminating useless information.*
