This was the warning made by SM Supermalls vice president for North Luzon operations Engr. Bien Mateo as he appealed to netizens not to post unverified information on Facebook and other social media.
Mateo made the appeal after an incident at the SM City Clark Hypermarket triggered a slight commotion last week. Loud popping sounds that were mistaken as gunshots caused a mad dash of mallgoers to the exits.
The incident was compounded by wrong information that was posted on Facebook in real time describing what happened as a “shootout.”
In a Facebook post made by a certain Kheng Khai, she said she’s “feeling sad” and wrote a newsfeed with the title, “Newsbreak: Shootout in front of SM Hypermarket SM City Clark around 2 p.m. today.”
SM City Clark officials were on top of the situation as soon as the fuss broke out and denied the wrong information that went viral on social media.
Mateo clarified that there was no shootout. He said on or about 2:32 p.m. on Thursday, a slight commotion occurred at SM City Clark wherein people rush out of the exits. Upon verifying, it came from the compressor of the Happy Swing ride of FECI where its hose was detached making a popping sound.”
“The Happy Swing ride was disabled the rest of the day so that the equipment can be checked before resuming operations. It’s a good thing no one was injured during the time people were rushing out,” he added.
