By John Genesis A. Damgo
The National Bureau of Investigation – Batangas District Office (NBI-BATDO) yesterday announced the arrest of someone pretending to be a lawyer in an entrapment operation in Lipa City, Batangas.
Arrested was Rhoda Antonio for violations of Article 315 paragraph 2 (a) of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to R.A. No. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012), Article 172 of the RPC, and Article 177 of the RPC.
NBI Director Judge Jaime Santiago (Ret.) said that the operation stemmed from a complaint filed against Subject Antonio, who represented herself as a lawyer and offered her services for the respective annulment cases of several complainants. Antonio was able to collect amounts ranging from P250,000 to P560,000 from each of the complainants.
Several months later, Subject Antonio met two (2) of the Complainants and handed over the original copy of documents pertaining to their annulment including the Entry of Judgement or Certificate of Finality from the Regional Trial Court Branch 93 of Quezon City.
The Complainants requested their respective Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which revealed that the documents given to them by the Subject were fake.
This prompted Complainants to ask the suspect why the requested CENOMAR from PSA has no remarks regarding the status of their annulment cases. Antonio allegedly told them that the system of the PSA is not yet updated and promised them that she will provide them an original copy of their CENOMAR with remarks of annulment of marriage.
Antonio then demanded from the complainants additional P2,000 for the payment of the copy of each CENOMAR with remark/s annotation and arranged a meeting with them on July 10, 2024 at a certain establishment in Lipa City to give them the document.
However, verification made with the Supreme Court of the Philippines – Office of the Bar Confidant revealed that Antonio is not a member of the Philippine bar.
On July 10, 2024, NBI-BATDO proceeded to the instructed meeting place in Lipa City for the entrapment operation. Upon handing over of the marked money as payment for the falsified CENOMAR, NBI-BATDO operatives immediately approached the suspect and placed her under arrest, apprised of the nature and cause of the accusation against her and her constitutional rights.
Antonio was presented for inquest proceeding for the above-stated violations.
Director Santiago commended the operatives of NBI-BATDO for the successful apprehension of the fake lawyer and warned those individuals who pretend to be lawyers that the NBI will be relentless in pursuing them.
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