MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - Alleged mugshots of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that were published by some media outfits are fake, the nation's top police official said Tuesday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Nicanor Bartolome, in a statement, said the published pictures are not the authentic mugshot photos of Arroyo that were taken during her mandatory booking procedure last Saturday for her poll sabotage case.
The genuine photos were submitted to the Regional Trial Court Branch 112 of Pasay City on Monday.
"I have given specific instructions to the arresting officers and police custodians to ensure that only the presiding judge of RTC Branch 112 of Pasay City or his duly designated representative shall have access to the booking sheets, mugshots, and fingerprint cards of Rep. Arroyo," Bartolome said.
He said the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) noted several discrepancies in the published photos and the original images
He said most notably is "the character stamped on the published images that read: Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and criminal case # R-PSY-11-04432-cr." He said the captions on the original mugshots are: "Gloria Arroyo Y macapagal and CC NR. R-PSY-11-04432."
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo echoed Bartolome's statement.
He said the published photos of Arroyo that appeared on the Internet are not the same photos that police submitted to the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.
"Former President Arroyo's mug shot taken from her hospital bed at the St. Luke's Hospital in Taguig which have been circulated in the Internet is different from what the PNP CIDG had taken," he said in a press release.
"Based on what has appeared in the Internet, it appeared that the booking numbers below the published photos were 'photo-shopped' and are different from the reports submitted to me," Robredo added.
According to the the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Pasay City RTC has stated that Arroyo's mug shots will not be released unless both the prosecution and defense panels agree.
The mug shots are deemed property of the police and are not public property.
The DILG said only 7 people -- Arroyo, her husband Mike Arroyo, son Albay Rep. Dato Arroyo, a former Arroyo Cabinet secretary and three personnel from the PNP CIDG -- were present when the former President's mugshots were taken.
Acting Southern Police District (SPD) Director Senior Superintendent James Bucayu, who said the published mug shots were authentic, was not around when the booking photos were taken, the department added.
Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, in a press briefing Tuesday, also said the photos are not genuine.
Valte said she stands by Robredo's statement that the alleged mugshots published in some media outfits are fake as the real ones are in the custody of the CIDG.
She said the real mug shots will only be released upon the order of the courts, and to date, no one has been authorized to release said photos.
She denied any leakage of Arroyo's mugshots, saying the real photos have never been leaked to the media.
Source :abs-cbn news.com
