The police report posted online by columnist Rigoberto Tiglao was altered, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro disclosed this yesterday during a press briefing.
She said the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, California verified with American authorities the authenticity of the police report on Rustan’s executive Paolo Tantoco’s death and found out that it was “altered.”
”With reference to Mr. (Rigoberto) Tiglao’s post on the screenshot of the purported report surrounding the circumstances of the death of Mr. Paolo Tantoco in Los Angeles, the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles had verified with the Beverly Hills Police Department on the veracity of the alleged report and found the police report posted by Mr. Tiglao was altered,” she added.
She said the Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, coordinated with US police on the matter.
”Some of the terms used in the purported letter were not in line with the BHPD’s (Beverly Hills Police Department) standard language and protocol. BHPD would not include terms such as ‘expected to be drug overdose,’ ‘suspected to be cocaine,’ and ‘summoned to BHPD,”’ Castro said.
Asked for comment by GMA News, Tiglao said he had emailed the BHPD to ask if the report was authentic and he said an official, Lt. Chris Coulter, replied to him and said: ”The document you have provided was altered and that information was NOT released by the Beverly Hills Police Department.”
Tiglao said he received a second email from the BHPD, stating that what the real police report did not contain was mainly the sentence “Companions of the victim were summoned to the BHPD for questioning, which were Dinah Arroyo Tantoco, Liza Araneta Marcos, and Alexa Miro.”
”I found Coulter’s reply revealing. He didn’t deny that the three were summoned for questioning and didn’t claim it as ‘false.’ He referred to it as ‘that information was not released [sic] or verified by the BHPD,”’ Tiglao said.
He also asked for the whereabouts of the First Lady when the party, attended by Tantoco, took place at the Beverly Hills.
Castro has denied that the First Lady stayed in the same hotel as Tantoco, adding that she had security provided by the US and a Presidential Security Group detail.
The Palace official also presented the activities attended by the First Lady on March 8, showing that she was with Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco.
“You will see on the screen that there was a concert for Filipinos. You would also see Secretary Christina Frasco. That was on March 9, from the afternoon until the evening. How can these obstructionists say, these Facebook peddlers, what people saw in the vicinity? That portion was just added, she said.
“All these are on the First Lady’s Facebook. But even if this is already on Facebook and these are being reported, they kept on trying to change the narrative. It is sad because they are trying to deceive fellow Filipinos for their own interest,” said Castro.
She also disclosed that the Palace was studying to take legal action against those behind the allegations against the First Lady.
