Bizmen warned vs. pre-poll 'fund-raising drive'
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. has ordered surveillance in at least three local banks and a money changing station in the Province of Aklan.
This, as the Ilonggo Secretary disclosed planned bank heists and extortion of “For Hire” bank robbers and rogue elements of communist New People’s Army (NPA).
The loot, he added, will reportedly form part of the finances of certain politicians for the 2010 elections. The “operations” are nothing but fund-raising drive of the group with a branch here of Banco De Oro, Metrobank and Bank of the Philippines (BPI) and a Western Union foreign exchange station in Aklan as targeted sources of said “funding.”
Secretary Gonzalez made the disclosure in an interview over Bombo Radyo Iloilo adding that “reliable sources” further said among those “on the job” are criminal groups from Luzon.
As such, he decided to make public the information in order to warn the community particularly the business groups. Security precautions must be considered and prioritized, he continued if only to avert damage and harm set to be posed by these criminal minds.
Extortion letters, the Secretary shared, were also circulated and sent out to the targeted victims with intelligence sources confirming the report.
Meantime, security was beefed up in and around the Justice Secretary and his son, Lone District Congressman Raul Gonzalez Jr’s security detail.
The News Today (TNT) gathered recent threats made on the duo, downplayed though by the Secretary as “manageable.”
Secretary Gonzalez was spotted in a local mall Saturday with Iloilo City top cop, Police Chief Inspector Musa Amiong as among the close-in security.