MANILA — The Department of the Interior and Local and Government on Tuesday denounced Facebook for flagging the post of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. in which he urged Filipinos to unite to end the communist insurgency.

Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya castigated the social media giant "for their imprudence and audacity to issue a warning to no less than the country’s national security adviser."

"The imprudence of FB to warn Secretary Esperon on a national security issue is unthinkable and downright offensive as the social media platform has taken on the role of Big Brother with the power to censure the social media posts of the NSA himself on matters of national security," he said in a statement.

According to Malaya, also spokesperson National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, this move of Facebook is "alarming, if not dangerous" as it can "censure at their discretion" the posts of "highly respected officials of the country."

"We also find it questionable how FB and its fact checkers seem to be overly focused in calling out and restricting the accounts of government officials while turning a blind eye to others," he said.

The official urged Facebook to revisit and modify its standards that are "obviously one-sided and serve to promote the interests of the few and powerful."

"Finally, we call on FB to stick to its goal of helping people connect and engage, and to leave national security matters to the experts," Malaya added.

Esperon has questioned the social networking site after he received a warning for his post.

"I should know better than you do on matters of national security," he wrote on Facebook on April 16.

Last week, Esperon shared on his profile that Filipinos should unite against the armed struggle and all organizations that support the New People Army, which he said includes members of the Communist Party of the Philippines who have allegedly infiltrated Congress through the party-list system.

Facebook has said it issued a warning on Esperon's post because it "didn't follow our standards."

"How come I was restricted by Facebook when I shared a status about ending the insurgency in the country? As the NSA, I sure know what I'm talking about and have basis for it. How did I violate the community standards when I only shared the truth?" he had said.

Facebook has yet to respond to the statement made by the DILG.

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