By Benjamin Pulta | Philippine News Agency
The special envoy of the President to China on Monday evening came to the defense of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, debunking the claims of lawyer Ferdinand Topacio linking the First Couple with Chinese investors involved in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO), based on a single group photo taken at a restaurant in November 2020.
Special Envoy of the President to the People’s Republic of China for Trade, Investment, and Tourism Benito Techico, in a press conference at a mall in Pasay City, called the claims malicious and unfounded.
He explained that the group photo was taken in 2020 during a casual encounter with several Chinese diners who requested a souvenir shot with the group.
The photo bandied by Topacio to the media earlier on the same day included his client Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, who is under investigation and arrested last week for connections to a raided POGO in Porac, Pampanga.
“Ginawan ng kuwento. Hindi kilala ni Presidente lahat ’yong mga nagre-request na magpapakuha ng larawan sa kaniya,” Techico said.
He added that the Marcoses had accommodated Ong’s request for a souvenir photo similar to the requests of other people who see the First Couple in public.
Marcos was not a candidate at that time and was challenging the results of the 2016 vice-presidential race.
Other people in the photograph taken at a restaurant in Pasay City included private businessmen who have likewise denied that Ong knew the Marcoses and conversed with them at length.
“It is normal when as friends we go out, people recognize the President and ask for a souvenir photo as people do with celebrities and public officials,” said Techico, who was in the same photo, together with other well-known celebrities like chef Sandy Daza and former world shooting champion Jethro Dionisio.
Techico had originally called for a press briefing at the Hao Hao Noodles Restaurant at Two ECom Center within the Mall of Asia complex to show the media where he said the photo was taken. However, the restaurant was closed.