LABOR Secretary Silvestre Bello III has deplored unscrupulous persons using his name in a bogus social media account to solicit funds purportedly to support community pantries.
The labor chief has also sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to identify and go after those behind the fake account on Facebook to generate financial support allegedly for the secretary's would-be election bid next year.
"It is lamentable that some people would resort to this despicable scheme to besmirch my name for their advantage. And it is doubly deplorable that they would use falsehood and deception to victimize others in this time of crisis," Bello said.
The spurious Facebook account carries the name "Silvestre H. Bello III" with the photo and some official and personal details of the labor secretary.
The account also included as background photo the tarpaulin of DOLE's flagship program Tupad during the assistance payout in Tarlac with Governor Susan Yap.
The account, which also uses the official logo of the labor department, has drawn unsuspecting officials and friends of Bello and already listed 1,211 Facebook friends.
The nefarious activity using the bogus account was brought to the attention of Bello over the weekend when "Silvestre" publicly posted: "Pwede ba kayo mag donate sa community pantry ko."
Subsequent posts include:
"Send ko bank details."
"Hinati hati ko kasi sa ibang grupo."
In the succeeding post, "Silvestre" said: "Tatakbo kasi ako senador."
He eventually posted bank account details of another person in a universal bank, and provided a mobile number not that of the labor chief.
Bello has been using an official Facebook account since 2010.
