PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayalde has ordered the conduct of a thorough investigation on a Philippine-based website tagged as “megaphone for mass shooters” particularly in the United States.
“I already got information on this. I asked the ACG (PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group) to verify it already and monitor the website,” Albayalde said in a press conference in Camp Crame on Tuesday, August 6.
The website has been down since Monday, August 5.
A report by the New York Times said the website 8chan, which was allegedly used as a platform to post racist commentaries, was owned and maintained by an American who has been living in the Philippines for more than a decade now.
On Sunday (US time), a 21-year old gunman went on a shooting spree in El Paso, Texas and killed 22 people.
Hours before the mass shooting, the suspect allegedly posted a four-page message on the said website and encouraged his “brothers” to spread its contents.
He particularly expressed his anger against immigrants, especially Latin Americans.
Hours later, another mass shooting killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio.
Albayalde said part of the verification is to come up with all the technical details on how the website was managed.
"Depende kung anong makikita natin. Of course, kung sino ang mga connections, kung ano ang ma-dig natin doon, ang makita natin, lalo na kung local 'yan, dito sa atin," he said.
“We have to conduct verification and intelligence buildup,” he added.
Albayalde expressed hope that such incidents of mass shootings would not happen in the Philippines.
He said the PNP has preventive measures against such incidents, such as the imposition of strict requirements for an individual to be granted the privilege to own and possess firearms. (SunStar Philippines)