Palace warns public vs scams offering positions in gov't

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28)— Malacañang warned the public not to entertain individuals posing as officials from the Office of the Executive Secretary after eight "presidential appointees" rushed to the Palace for their supposed oath taking on Friday.

The victims reported that the scammers, who introduced themselves as a certain Undersecretary Eduardo Diokno and Assistant Secretary Johnson See, reached them online and asked for "huge sums of money" to offer the fake positions, according to a statement from Malacañang.

The victims said they were instructed to proceed to the Palace for their supposed swearing in rites to be administered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at the Rizal Hall.

Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevara said there was no oath taking ceremony scheduled Friday afternoon and the "appointees" obviously fell victim to the scheme.

Some of the victims said they already had doubts on the authenticity of appointments and oath taking after noticing some inconsistencies in the information being provided to them by the scammers.

The victims, however, still proceeded to Malacañang after paying to secure positions and receiving information or invitations about available government positions.

The positions they were offered include ambassadorial post to The Netherlands, Department of Transportation assistant secretary, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority board member, Clark International Airport Corporation president and chief executive officer, Early Childhood Care and Development Council executive director and vice chairperson, Clark Development Corp. director and Port of Batangas manager.

The National Bureau of Investigation said it is conducting a probe on the incident while the Palace appealed to the victims to cooperate with authorities.