MAYOR Dante Torres of Guagua and Mayor Oscar Tetangco Jr. of Apalit town asked netizens and the public on Monday, November 16, to stop and avoid posting unverified information and alleged "fake news" about flooding on their social media accounts.
The officials said these posts will cause panic and undue fear to residents and even their relatives abroad.
Several posts in various social media platforms about Guagua and Apalit submerged in deep water, or in danger of being flooded, circulated over the weekend.
In Guagua town, Torres went all out on social media Monday to denounce the circulating posts on Facebook that the town is in danger of being flooded due to water overflowing from the Pampanga River.
"There is no truth to the circulating reports that Guagua will be inundated due to water coming from Pampanga River," Torres said.
In a post on Sunday, November 15, he assured that the town will not be affected.
The mayor said that water overflow from the Pampanga River mainly affects fourth district towns like San Luis, Candaba, Apalit, Macabebe and Masantol.
Torres also assured that the waterways in the town are more than capable of taking in water in cases of heavy rainfall.
He added that residents near the water channels in Bancal and Natividad need not worry of the supposed flooding.
"I urge our residents to only rely on news coming from reputable sources and from the official media channels of the municipal government," he said.
Torres also urged people not to share unverified information so as not to cause unnecessary panic and worry among local residents.
In Apalit, Tetangco stressed that only barangays along the Pampanga River are experiencing flooding due to the overflow of water.
"As of this morning (Monday), the water at Pampanga River is already subsiding and we are hopeful that it will continue in the next days," he said.
In line with this, the mayor asked the netizens to avoid sowing panic among fellow Apaliteños through spread of false news reports.
He said such reports cause unnecessary fear and worry to residents and also to their families working overseas.
"It is okay to alert people of the possible danger, but creating panic will not be helpful as it may result to untoward incidents," he said.
Tetangco added that through the cooperation of the provincial and local government, and the people, Apaliteños can sure rise up against the flooding.
He said the local government has already started distributing relief packs to affected residents since Saturday.