False 'intel report' about bomb threats to southern Philippine cities resurfaces on social media

"FYI! Don't go to crowded places," reads part of a Tagalog-language post shared on Facebook here on December 13, 2023.

The rest of the post appears to show a forwarded message, titled: "FOR APPRECIATION GENTLEMEN: SIR, INTEL REPORT RE BOMB THREATS IN CENTRAL MINDANAO AREA IN RELATION TO BOHOL ENCOUNTER."

It details supposed intelligence gathered about a plan to "conduct bombing activities" in five cities in central Mindanao -- Cotabato, Tacurong, General Santos, Kidapawan and Koronadal-- and one city in southeastern Mindanao -- Davao.

The information is attributed to the South Cotabato office of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on December 21, 2023

It was shared after an attack on a Catholic mass in the city of Marawi in Mindanao island on December 3.

Identical posts were also shared elsewhere on Facebook here, here, here and here.

But Harold Nacional, NICA regional director for Central Mindanao, told AFP on December 22, "There is no truth to this."

Nacional also said that the message is old and has been going around social media for about "three to five years".

"Every time an incident happens, this warning shows up," he added.

A keyword search on Google for the "Bohol encounter" mentioned in the false posts led to news reports about the Philippine military foiling a plot by Islamic militants to raid the resort island on April 11, 2017.

The Philippine army later said the Abu Sayyaf group had planned to snatch up to a dozen tourists around Easter Sunday when resorts are packed.

A search on Facebook shows the purported intelligence report was shared in posts in April 2017 following this incident.

A similar post resurfaced on Facebook on August 25, 2020, after suicide attackers linked to the Abu Sayyaf group carried out a double bombing on Jolo island in Sulu province.

According to an AFP report, 14 people were killed and 75 were wounded, including members of the government-backed security forces and civilians.

The false intelligence report circulated on Facebook again in May 2022, days after the Philippines' presidential elections, following reports of grenades exploding outside a polling station in Datu Unsay municipality on Mindanao island.