A student group did an ‘oopsie’ after claiming that they received a threat from a troll.
However, it was discovered that the number used by the sender of the threat coincidentally same with the official hotline number of the group.
On Monday, DefendUPLB posted a screenshot of a text message claiming that they were being threatened by someone amid the proliferation of dummy accounts on Facebook.
“M*m*tay ka na!” the sender texted.
However, netizen Carlo Navasero noticed that the number used by the sender was the same as the contact information posted by the said group in the past.
The conversation was screen captured by Noel Landero Sarifa.
Defend UPLB admitted that the number was once theirs, however, they explained that they already disposed of it after one of their members dumped the sim card or the phone to the junk shop.
“According to our member, it was thrown away and got transferred to a junk shop,” Defend UPLB said.
“The hotline we used in our previous activities and publicity materials were already disposed of last April, however, the alliance had lapses to include it in our posts until June. We apologized for the confusion, rest assured that the alliance will resolve its error, and at the same time will remain vigilant,” they added.
One UP alumnus also questioned why the number used by the intimidator and the group were the same.
In another statement, UPLB explained their decision on why they decided to delete the thread, telling their followers that they’re avoiding ‘any possible misunderstanding’.
“DefendUPLB has always been committed in safeguarding the rights of UPLB constituents and the Filipino people at large. That is why, the campaign alliance takes any form of grave threats seriously. All cases that have the consent of the victims were posted publicly to raise awareness and to condemn the instigators of fear,” the group statement read.
“With this, we deeply apologize that such incident happened in this time when our growing unity must be forwards. Let this not divide us for there are more relevant issues to pay attention to, and greater battles to be won,” they added.
They vowed to investigate the case.
Sarifa on a Facebook post said that he was not convinced by the explanation of the group.
He claimed that some groups claimed that they were intimidated then blame it on the government.
“So tinapon daw nila yong sim, tapos alam nilang napunta sa junkshop at hindi sa landfill. May tracker ang sim card, at alam ng nakapulot sino may ari, para sila ang ithreat. Gawagawa ng kalokohan official number panginamit, k*t*ng*han. Magaling gumawa ng story pang MMK,” Sarifa said.
A few days ago, several Facebook users, most of them were critics of the government claimed that someone duplicated their social media accounts for still unknown reasons.
The Philippine government and Facebook already investigated the said accounts.