Pampanga archbishop victim of 4th fake Facebook account

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — A fake Facebook account — the fourth registered as Archbishop Emeritus Paciano Aniceto — has surfaced, prompting the prelate to disown the page and to warn everyone against making donations for what he described as fictitious projects.

The latest Facebook page attributed to the retired head of the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga province, goes by the name “Archbishop Paciano.”

Three other pages used the bishop, going by the names “Abp Paciano Aniceto,” “Paciano Aniceto” and “Archbishop Paciano Aniceto.”

People behind the fake accounts have been soliciting money although the 78-year-old prelate has issued an advisory before he left for an official mission in the United States.

“I want to reiterate that I don’t have a personal Facebook account, and I have not authorized anybody to collect money for any pastoral project. Please be guided accordingly,” Aniceto said in a letter dated Aug. 29.

Donations were being sought for the charity crusade of the Virgen de los Remedios abroad and for renovations of the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary.

An account that accepted donations was traced to a branch of the BDO in Makati City, according to Rev. Mario Sol Gabriel.

“I don’t know if [the bank] closed it now. We made representations to the bank a few weeks ago,” Gabriel said on Monday. The pages drew donations from several Pampanga residents.

The fake pages contained letters printed on what appeared to be official stationeries of Aniceto, complete with his signature.

When replying to queries about how to make donations, the people behind the fake pages mentioned the names of staffers known to be assisting Aniceto or Archbishop Florentino Lavarias.

The pages also featured old and up-to-date photographs of the bishop, linking these to public posts.

Aniceto said it was ironic that he was being made to appear to be social media savvy when he does not own or use a laptop or a smartphone. —Tonette Orejas