Fake ‘usec’ nabbed for trying to sell drones

A man posing as a Malacañang official was arrested on Wednesday by authorities when he attempted to persuade officials of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to procure military drones worth millions of pesos. In a report from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), Kelvin Parreño, 40, was collared around 11:30 a.m. in front of the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila, after his meeting with PCG officials. Police Lt. Col. Luisito Andaya Jr., spokesperson for the NCRPO, said Parreño introduced himself as an undersecretary (usec) of the Office of External Affairs under the Office of the President (OP). The NCRPO coordinated with the Human Resource Management Office of the OP, which confirmed that they had no name of Parreño on their list of personnel. The OP also informed them that the Office of External Affairs had been defunct since 2005. —Dexter V. Cabalza

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