MALACAÑANG on Tuesday said it has tasked the Department of Justice (DoJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to trace the origin of a possibly forged document supposedly confirming the appointment of Abraham Espejo as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Press Secretary Rose Beatrix Trixie Cruz-Angeles insisted that the Palace, particularly the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) and Presidential Management Staff (PMS), had no record of the questionable appointment letter.

The official warned that forging the great seal of the government, signature of the President or stamp of the President is punishable by reclusion temporal.

Reclusion temporal is 12 to 20 years, Cruz-Angeles said.

Media outlets who published and reported the supposed appointment of Espejo accompanied by the spurious document will also be questioned, she added.

This, however, does not mean that the Palace is threatening or intimidating journalists.

Firstly, we are not intimidating the media. As a matter of fact, what we are saying is that this is a chance for the media to help in providing information to our law enforcement agencies, she said.

The liability is if you knowingly used the document or the one involved in the issuance of the document knows that what is stated is not correct. To have liability at that end, the validity of the document must first be determined — its use, who made it, what the ends are, and so on. Unless there is a conspiracy or they knowingly use a falsified or forged document, she added.

News of Espejo being named to the BIs top post created buzz after a document said to be his appointment letter and which appears to bear the signature of President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. circulated online.

Based on the supposed letter from the Office of the President, Espejos appointment as head of the BI took effect on July 22, 2022.

The forgery of the Presidents signature has heavy implications, Cruz-Angeles pointed out, and Malacañang is bent on making sure it will not happen again or become rampant.

That is why with that in mind, he ordered an investigation, she concluded.