Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday, Dec. 3, warned the public against identity theft and fake Facebook pages that impersonate official social media accounts of the local government.
Sotto issued the warning after the official Facebook page of the Pasig Urban Settlements Office (PUSO) was mass-reported and restricted for "impersonation."
A Vietnamese Facebook page displays its history of being renamed to the Pasig Urban Settlements Office. (Photo from Mayor Vico Sotto)
The mayor said that a Vietnamese page was renamed "Pasig Urban Settlements Office" which appeared on its page history on Nov. 28.
“Makikita sa page history na ni-rename ang isang Vietnamese page para maging ‘Pasig Urban Settlements Office’ nung November 28. Ito ay isang araw pagkatapos mag-post ng legit PUSO page ng isang paglilinaw tungkol sa maling impormasyon mula sa isang Kuya Curlee Ate Sarah page (The page history shows that a Vietnamese page was renamed to "Pasig Urban Settlements Office" on November 28, one day after the legitimate PUSO page clarified a misleading post from a Facebook page called Kuya Curlee Ate Sarah),” Sotto said.
On Nov. 27, PUSO clarified that the circulating issue on social media regarding the alleged demolitions of an apartment in Barangay Kapasigan is "false information."
It strongly condemned the “blatant lies” posted on the Facebook page named “Kuya Curlee Loves Ate Sarah” concerning the situation of tenants at Cuanas Apartment on Industria Street.
The said Facebook page announced an emergency meeting for financial assistance and free legal consultation with mayoral aspirant Sarah Discaya and lawyer Ian Sia for the tenants of the apartment who might potentially lose their homes due to the alleged demolition.
PUSO clarified that it has never conducted demolitions of any housing units as it is mandated to give assistance to the city's urban poor, particularly Informal Settler Families (ISF). It added that it strictly adheres to the local government’s principle of “no demolition without relocation,” especially for communities affected by national government infrastructure projects, residents in danger zones like riverbanks, and those subject to court-ordered decisions.
Sotto also mentioned a similar allegedly involving Councilor Quin Cruz of Barangay Manggahan.
“Halos ganito rin ang nangyari kay Kap. Quin Cruz ng Manggahan. Pagka-post ni Kap Quin tungkol sa diumanong vote buying sa iilang homeowners’ association (HOA) elections sa pamamagitan ng bigas galing sa St. Gerrard—na-target din siya (This situation is similar to what happened to Kap. Quin Cruz of Manggahan. After posting about alleged vote buying in some HOA elections using rice from St. Gerrard as a form of incentive, he became a target),” he stated.
“Na-restrict ang totoong account dahil sa ‘impersonation’ at biglang may lumitaw na fake FB profile. Vietnamese din na biglang ginamit ang pangalang Quin Cruz, at ginaya rin ang ibang post niya (His real account was restricted due to 'impersonation,' and suddenly a fake Facebook profile appeared, also a Vietnamese account that used the name Quin Cruz and copied some of his posts),” he added.
"Ang lupet, pati identity theft pinapasok na nila. Kung focus na lang sana sila sa pagiging 'matulungin,' baka mas malayo pa ang marating nila. Kaso sa pag gastos ng milyon-milyon para sa mga ganitong bulok at maduming istilo, nahahalata tuloy ang tunay na kulay at motibo (It's crazy, they're even getting into identity theft. If only they focused on being 'helpful,' they could have gone much farther. But by spending millions on these dirty and corrupt tactics, their true colors and motives are now obvious).”
The mayor emphasized that dirty tactics are outdated and that instilling fear no longer works in Pasig.
He added that Pasigueños are smart and they just need to be extra cautious to avoid falling prey to these scammers.