`Malicious’ e-mail not from Canadian mining firm–NBI

https://www.nbi.gov.ph/ photo

MANILA, Philippines—The e-mail that circulated in several government agencies implicating a Canadian mining firm in a conspiracy to murder illegal miners in Zamboanga del Sur were `maliciously created’’ and did not come from an authentic source.

In a report dated July 13, 2012, a copy of which was obtained by the INQUIRER.net on Monday, the NBI said the e-mail did not come from TVI Resources Development Philippines Inc. (TVIRD), one of the first firms allowed by the government to conduct mining operations in the country.

“The e-mail did not come from the authentic source (TVI) and are maliciously created,” the NBI said, through Francis V. Senora of its Technical Intelligence Division.

The e-mail were circulated late last year and early this year. Some e-mail contained information about alleged bribery attempts on ranking officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a plot to murder local officials in the province.

Aside from the NBI, TVIRD also sought the help of the Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA), an international private risk assessment and security agency to check the e-mail.

Both the NBI and PSA noted defects in the e-mail including: inconsistencies between the graphic interphase in the e-mail printouts and the actual e-mail from TVIRD from its e-mail system; differences in domain addresses used in fake e-mail with real TVIRD e-mail; grammatical inconsistencies and inconsistencies with date and time stamp format and other e-mail protocols.

“We strongly deny involvement in this and any criminal acts. We are a legitimate, multi-million dollar publicly listed business. Our business practices here and in various parts of the world are beyond reproach,” former Environment Secretary and TVIRD Legal Adviser Fulgencio Factoran said during a press conference on Monday .