THE Philippine National Police (PNP) warned the public against posting sexist comments in online platforms that may constitute sexual harassment.
This is after a 34-year-old male truck delivery crew was arrested on Thursday, June 23, by operatives of the ACG Eastern District Anti-Cybercrime Team (EDACT), with the assistance of the Barangay Security Force of Pineda, Pasig City for posting a video of a female victim on Facebook with sexist remarks.
He was arrested while in the act of watching the victim’s video that he posted on social media.
The arresting officers confiscated from the suspect’s possession a Redmi 8 mobile phone without sim card.
“It was the victim’s friend who positively identified the suspect. After learning and verifying about the suspect’s identity, our police authorities and the barangay peacekeepers did not waste time in capturing him. Their quick and prudent response spelled success to this operation,” PNP OIC Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. said.
The complainant is a 19-year-old student, who recently became a victim of gender-based online sexual harassment– a violation of the “Anti-Bastos Law.”
The victim narrated that the incident happened when she was having her morning exercise in a supermarket in Barangay Ugong, Pasig City. The suspect secretly took a video of her without her consent.
The suspect then posted the victim’s photograph on his Facebook account with the caption: “pg 2mingin ka brocha ka,” a colloquial term that implies a lewd act. The victim was surprised to learn that the video of her was already circulated in social networking sites when one of her friends sent her a screenshot of the post. The victim and her friend immediately reported the matter to ACG EDACT.
The suspect will face criminal charges for violation of RA No. 11313 (Safe Spaces Act or Bawal Bastos Act) and Art. 287 (Unjust Vexation) in relation to Sec. 6 of RA No. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act).
“This is a classic example of how the fundamental rights and privacy of other people can be violated if they are disrespected even in social media. We ask the public to be responsible in using the internet as your wrong actions can degrade someone’s reputation,” Danao said.
