7 held for selling government posts, promotions

MANILA, Philippines — A man allegedly posing as an official in the administration of President Marcos and six others allegedly involved in the sale of government posts and promotions were arrested in Quezon City, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced yesterday.

NBI chief Jaime Santiago said the group’s alleged leader, John Vicente Cruz, is reportedly name-dropping First Lady Liza Marcos in a supposed crackdown on government officials who were appointed during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.

Cruz’s alleged cohorts were Paulo Cruz, Kim Joseph Hernand, Jayson Marquina, Dante Rabano Jr., Darwin Dave Caigan and Noriel Reynoso.

Santiago said Cruz posed as an assistant secretary of the Presidential Management Staff in the Office of the President. His accomplices wore uniforms of the Presidential Security Group.

“He claimed he has specific instructions from the First Lady to clean up the bureaucracy. He presented himself as a ‘janitor’ in the government,” Santiago told reporters.

Cruz would offer the government positions to be vacated by Duterte’s appointees in exchange for P500,000 to P1 million, the NBI said.

According to Santiago, Cruz had demanded P500,000 from applicants for the position of Collector VI at the Bureau of Customs. In return, he would receive “payola” under the so-called “tara” system in the BOC.

Ferdinand Lavin, who heads the NBI’s Ilocos field unit, said the operation against Cruz and his cohorts started in La Union.

Cruz and Marquina, who were wearing jackets bearing the insignia of the Office of the President, welcomed the NBI agents who posed as applicants.

After they accepted P100,000 in marked money, the NBI operatives placed the suspects under arrest.

Malacañang said Cruz is not an assistant secretary and not authorized to conduct any activity in behalf of the government.

NBI records showed that Cruz has 20 criminal and derogatory records in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and Laguna.

“He has been doing this for more than 20 years,” Lavin said.

The suspects face complaints for estafa, usurpation of authority, using fictitious name and concealing true name, illegal use of uniforms or insignia, violating Commonwealth Act 142 and Executive Order 141, which prohibits forgery and unauthorized use of the seal of the president of the Philippines.