Politicians behind anti-Purisima campaign, witnesses say
Joel and Henry Reyes
MANILA, Philippines — Some politicians are allegedly responsible for the accusations against Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Alan Purisima, former allies of the whistleblower against the PNP chief disclosed Friday.
Speaking to reporters, the two witnesses, identified only as “Joel” and “Henry Reyes”, said Perfecto Tagalog was a “political operator”.
Joel said “Perf” (his nickname for Tagalog) was an image maker that wrote press releases for politicians and got paid between P1million to P2 million. He did not name them.
“Henry Reyes” said for P2 million, Tagalog would sell the Coalition of Filipino Consumers (CFC) of which he is secretary general as partylist group to politicians eyeing a seat at the House of Representatives.
When asked to comment, Tagalog, who filed the complaint against Purisima before the Office of the Ombudsman, texted that the issue wasn’t about him or his personality but on Purisima’s “failure to explain his
hidden wealth and spurious statement of assets and liabilities (SALN).
He said he was no one’s “attack dog and will never be”.
Article continues after this advertisementHe said Purisima has resorted to desperate measures against him, citing how the PNP chief has “lost the moral ascendancy to lead” and that the option left was for him to step down.
On Monday, Tagalog filed plunder, graft and indirect bribery charges against Purisima over his alleged hidden properties, which include his P25-million “White House” and his allegedly spurious gun licensing contract.
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