Man posing as Duterte half-brother faces swindling, usurpation complaints

A man arrested for posing as a half-brother of President Rodrigo Duterte is facing estafa and usurpation complaints, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Wednesday.

CIDG chief Director Roel Obusan presented Jose Matias before the media in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Wednesday.

Matias, who allegedly introduces himself as "Attorney Jose Roa Matias II," was arrested in an entrapment operation last March 8 around 1 p.m. at Deva Cruz Resort, Sta. Felomina in San Pablo City, Laguna.

Obusan said that the 57-year-old Matias introduces himself as the founder of the People's Congress of the Philippines, which is an unregistered organization.

"[He] represented himself na [founder ng] People's Congress na kanyang binubuo ay may authority from the President to choose OICs from barangay captain, barangay kagawads at local government officers like mayors and vice mayors but in exchange for all the brouhaha of appointments, is money," Obusan said.

Matias, meanwhile, denied that he has been introducing himself as a lawyer.

"Hindi po ako nagpapanggap, may pangalan po akong tunay," he said.

Matias was arrested based on a complaint by Ronaldo Gatdula, who said the suspect has defrauded money from him after introducing himself as a relative of Duterte.

Gatdula said Matias recruited him to join the People's Congress in May 2017. He alleged that the suspect promised that he will be a barangay captain of Panginay in Balagtas, Bulacan, through an endorsement from the Office of Special Assistant to the President.

The complainant said he was invited by Matias to attend the People's Congress meeting in Pampanga, where the suspect had asked for a certain amount of money in exchange for his preferred barangay position.

Gatdula claimed that he could no longer contact Matias after he had paid the suspect P75,000.

Matias contacted Gatdula again on March 7, asking for an additional P5,000 supposedly for the processing of his endorsement from Malacañang.

Gatdula was told by Matias to bring the money to the resort in Laguna.

The complainant said that he asked for the CIDG's assistance because he already had doubts about Matias' offer.

The CIDG said they recovered from the suspect an "acknowledgedment receipt of equipment and mission order" from the Philippine Army and a brown bag containing some documents and a driver's license.

Obusan said complaints for violation of Article 315 (swindling/estafa), Article 177 (usurpation of authority or official function) of the Revised Penal Code have been filed against the suspect.

Police also filed an alarm and scandal complaint against Matias for creating a scene while resisting arrest. —ALG, GMA News