PNP chief denies owning ‘undeclared’ Batangas property, orders probe

Philippine National Police chief Police Director General Alan Purisima has denied buying land in Talisay, Batangas as alleged in a news report, adding he has ordered the police to look into the matter.

In a statement to the media, PNP spokesman C/Supt. Wilben Mayor said Purisima "denies these allegations and has no knowledge whatsoever about the acquisition or disposition of the said property."

The PNP was reacting to a news report of a 9.5-hectare property in Batangas that is allegedly under his name but not declared in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.

According to the report, Purisima bought the property, which was later subdivided into 11 titles, in 2007. The 11 titles are under the names of Purisima and a certain Oscarlito Mapalo that the report said was a former Army colonel.

The property has reportedly since been sold for P4 million but remains under Purisima's name.

"The Chief PNP has ordered an investigation as to how his name was dragged into this property and to identify person/s behind the scheme," Mayor said in the statement.

Purisima has come under fire as he faces plunder, bribery, and graft charges at the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with his rest house in Nueva Ecija and the renovation of the White House — the PNP chief's official quarters in Camp Crame.

Last month, the Ombudsman created a panel to investigate Purisima and 11 others over a supposedly anomalous contract the PNP entered into with a courier service in 2011. — JDS/KG, GMA News