CIDG denies conducting surveillance on ‘ER-switch’ whistleblowers

MANILA, Philippines—The chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group denied on Wednesday reports that the CIDG was conducting surveillance on whistleblower Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago and his companions.

“I will say that we have not issued any order, sanctioning or ordering that they be put under surveillance. There’s nothing like that so I flatly deny. No one from CIDG could scare people like that…. In fact, what we could do is help them,” Police Director Samuel Pagdilao told reporters.

Santiago and his men from the Philippine National Police Special Action Force earlier came out in public to reveal that they took part in replacing genuine election returns (ERs) kept at Batasang Pambansa in 2005with fake ones.

Police Officer 2 Rudy Baynihan, one of Santiago’s companions, recently claimed that he had received text messages that said members of CIDG were deployed to look out for them in Metro Manila.—Frances Mangosing