Another reason to quit social media this Holy Week: your safety

MANILA, Philippines—Some tech-savvy Christians have made going on a social media break this Holy Week as a form of sacrifice, but the Philippine National Police (PNP) has another reason as to why people need to take things easy when posting in their social networking accounts—their safety.

They may be tagged as “killjoys” but the police discouraged the public to use the check-in features of the social media to prevent criminals from tracking the whereabouts of their prospective victims.

PNP told netizens on Tuesday to refrain from using social media applications offering location services or the likes of Instagram, Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter.

As the Holy Week starts, Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office chief, told reporters that travellers should turn off their locators or Global Positioning Services (GPS) on their smartphones as it reveals one’s current location.

“If you put your location (on your posts), it would be to your disadvantage,” Sindac explained.

He stressed that the PNP is not stopping the public from “taking selfies, posting travel photos and gathering memories” but told them to delay their posts so as not to unduly compromise their location and fall prey to would-be criminals.

The entire police force has been observing the heightened alert status days before the Holy Week started.
Sindac, however, said police units in some provinces were also given the liberty to decide if they should raise their alert level to Full Alert Status.

When the PNP is on a heightened alert, police forces in all stations are expected to cancel their leaves except for some who would need it for emergency.

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