Lacierda warns public vs ‘fake’ Edwin Lacierda

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Monday denied that he wanted to be involved in the Maguindanao massacre trial, the Jason Ivler case, and has asked for P10,000 from participants in a golf tournament over the weekend. At the same time, Lacierda warned the public against unscrupulous individuals posing as government officials or claiming to be working for certain government officials and then asking for favors. “We would like to inform the public that there has been indiscriminate use of some government officials’ names. I, for one, my name has been used on several occasions. Allegedly I wanted to be involved in the Maguindanao trial and also in the Ivler case," he told reporters at a press briefing in Malacañang. He said Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo informed him of his supposed interest in the Maguindanao massacre trial, where several prominent members of the Ampatuan clan are among the accused. In the Ivler case, Lacierda said Ivler’s mother, Marlene Aguilar, emailed him asking if he was the same Edwin Lacierda she spoke to over the phone. Ivler is facing murder charges for the killing of Renato Ebarle Jr., son of former Malacañang official Renato Ebarle Sr., in a traffic altercation in November 2009. “She said there was someone who contacted her and said he was me. She was told that I can be trusted, so she sent me an email asking me to confirm if that was really me. I emailed her back and told her I never spoke to her," he said. Lacierda said even Ebarle Sr. also claimed to have conversed with a man who introduced himself as Edwin Lacierda. “In fact I was given a disc of photos of Jason Ivler in prison, I don’t know why. That’s why I had to ask my staff why was I being given by the Office of the President copies of the photos of Jason Ivler. Apparently it was sent to them by former Undersecretary Ebarle," he said. Lacierda further said that he was informed over the weekend by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on his supposed presence in a golf tournament in Tagaytay Highlands. “Over the weekend, I was told that I was in a golf tournament in Tagaytay Highlands and I was asking for P10,000 from some people," he said. “There is no truth to those matters because I have never been involved to those things." He said if the public received any text message from anyone claiming to be a certain government official, they should first verify it by calling 09178085329. “To give the public a confirmation on whether those messages are true or not, or if you are speaking to the right official. I give you a number that you can verify to confirm if the people you are speaking to are really the authentic persons that they are meant to be," Lacierda said. - KBK, GMA News