The Negros Occidental provincial government may seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to go after persons pretending to be Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said Tuesday, December 6.
Although he admitted that calls made from cellular phones could be difficult to trace.
The latest prankster pretending to be the governor called the Campuestohan Highland Resort in Talisay City to make a reservation for an event.
However, the resort owner’s son verified if the governor had really made the call, Diaz said.
Resort and restaurant owners have been warned about these impostors, and to verify such calls, Diaz said.
The governor never calls personally to make a booking, Diaz pointed out.
Three fake bookings at restaurants in Silay and Bago cities in Negros Occidental were also made by a person or persons pretending to be Lacson on December 1.
Charina Magallanes Tan, executive assistant to the governor, said luckily the owners of the three establishments checked with the governor’s office but one resort was swindled of P4,000.
The resort owner in Silay got a call from a man pretending to be the governor who asked to make reservations, Tan said.
He then asked if the resort had an Internet connection and when she said no, he asked that she send him P4,000 worth of load for his phone and that he would send someone to pay for it, which she obliged.
When the load was sent, the caller could no longer be reached, Tan said.*