Manila: The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed criminal charges against four individuals for allegedly spreading incendiary fake news on social media targeting the Philippine government from overseas.

According to Philippines News Agency, the NBI identified the individuals as Maricel Tondi, known by her social media handle 'wild.flower269,' 'Olarte Bingkai' and 'Bae Lebon Blaan,' who is originally from Davao Occidental but currently in Saudi Arabia; Jennifer dela Cruz, also known as 'Jose Fernandez Cruz,' whose last known address is in Tarlac but currently resides in New Zealand; Jacinta Antasuda, originally from Catigbian, Bohol, now in the United Kingdom; and Cherry Lyn Capanas, from Pampanga but now apparently living in Canada.

In a letter to Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon, the NBI Intelligence Service, led by assistant director Noel Bocaling, recommended charges against the four for violations of the Anti-Alias Law, inciting to sedition, intriguing against honor and unlawful utterances, and violation of the Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 2012. The charges stem from spreading false information about NBI director Jaime Santiago on social media platforms Tiktok and Meta/Facebook on April 7 and 8 using spliced videos and out-of-context commentaries.

The NBI stated that the respondents deliberately disseminated false information to suggest that the NBI director threatened to arrest all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), whereas the director's statement only referred to arresting criminals with filed cases, who may be based overseas, not the entire OFW community. The NBI emphasized that the respondents' intention to splice and edit the video statement of Director Jaime Santiago was an attack on him. The content was not supported by proof and omitted important parts of the statement, misleading the public and discrediting the NBI director.