Duterte questions letting Facebook stay after accounts shut

He said he had not thought of specific steps to take on the issue, though he sought a meeting with the American company in his rambling, televised remarks Monday night on a range of topics.

Military chief of staff Gilbert Gapay said an account of a military-backed private group called Hands Off Our Children, which campaigns against the recruitment of students and children by communist guerrillas, was removed, and he asked that the account be reinstated.

Their grievances are legitimate, and their calls urgent, Gapay said, adding that the arbitrary shutdown of the account undermined the efforts of a group of parents, who were raising awareness on the vulnerability of children at the hands of communist front organizations.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte was among those opposed to Facebooks shutdown of the account of the group, which campaigns against the recruitment of children as combatants.

Critics have separately accused Dutertes camp of covertly maintaining fake social media accounts to show support to the president and undermine his critics in a country with one of the largest numbers of Facebook users in Asia.