Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr. ordered the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) to go after individuals and organizations who have been using President Rodrigo Duterte’s name in carrying out swindling schemes.
Evasco issued the order amid the rampant use of Duterte’s and other national officials’ names in scams perpetrated by various groups across the country including Bohol.
According to Evasco, his name and that of Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and even the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos have been used by these swindling organizations.
The groups take in members for a fee and promise large amount of sums to be given in the future exchange for their membership, he said.
Evasco urged the public to remain vigilant against scammers so as not to fall prey to phony offers.
Hundreds of Boholanos have been victimized by said organizations but none so far have filed cases against the groups.
In the previous months, barangay residents in Tagbilaran City and the hinterlands of Talibon, Guindulman, Trinidad, Inabanga, Jagna, Ubay were swindled out of hundreds of pesos.
The payments given to the illegitimate groups were supposedly registration feed while prospective members were offered P60,000 or a share of the Marcos ill-gotten wealth.
The swindlers were reportedly posing as representatives of organizations linked to Duterte under the Duterte Supporters Nationwide (DSN) and PERLAS. (ad)