PACC: Man arrested in Taguig not official or staff
The undersigned is writing in connection with the report that was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 17, 2019, that read: “PACC exec detained, released after threatening lawman” by Dexter Cabalza (Page A10, Metro section).
Successive news reports from the Inquirer last July 16 and July 17 stated that Villafuerte was a Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission official who was arrested by police in Taguig on Monday, after an altercation with a security marshal of Bonifacio Global City.
The PACC categorically refutes the report, and declares that Mariano Jose “Bong” Villafuerte III is neither an official nor a staff of the PACC.
The Commission formally states that the report claiming that Mr. Villafuerte is a “director of Intelligence Investigation” is false and misleading, and thus considers this as “fake news.”
DANTE LA. JIMENEZ,
Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission chair
The information that Mariano Jose Villafuerte III was the director for intelligence investigation of the PACC was confirmed to this reporter by Taguig City police chief, Police Col. Alexander Santos, in a phone call. The police official said Villafuerte presented an identification card showing he was a PACC official. Further confirmation came from the Police Community Precinct 7 commander, Police Maj. Joseph Austria, whose men arrested Villafuerte.
DEXTER CABALZA,
Inquirer Metro reporter
