4 women nabbed for fake IDs

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Four women were arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an entrapment operation for allegedly using fake government identification (ID) cards to secure a loan from lending companies here.

Marites de Leon, Marivic Parreño, Andrea Panes and Cristina dela Peña were collared at a fastfood restaurant in this city last Thursday, said NBI-Bacolod special investigator Arnel Pura.

Pura said De Leon, Panes and Dela Peña claimed they were pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) when they applied for a loan from a lending firm.

Recovered from the suspects were fake Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Philippine Postal Corp. (PhlPost) and SSS identification cards.

Parreño did not apply for a loan, but she was also arrested as she was with the suspects during the entrapment. She yielded fake PhlPost and PhilHealth IDs.

Pura said the suspects face charges for attempted estafa through falsification of public documents.