Why are high government officials so eager to release unverified information that later turn out to be false?
Spreading false information is not funny at all. Worse, it is coming from official sources.
Last Sunday, Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, released to media the information that a Chinese vessel rammed a Philippine fishing boat, Axl John, last June 20 on the waters near Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Four of the eight fishermen aboard Axl John were rescued but one later died. Four are still missing.
How sure was Ramos that it was a Chinese vessel? He said that was according to the fishermen who saw the markings on the ship. Apparently the name was not written in Roman alphabet which Filipinos are familiar with.