USJ-R mulls charges vs extortionist using fake student ID

Photos of the fake University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) student IDs of a certain Joselito Dela Cerna Paras, who also went by two other names of persons who turned out to be real students of the university. |CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines —  The University of San Jose Recoletos is mulling to file falsification of documents charges against a person who used a fake student identification card in alleged extortion activities.

This after the university was alerted by a  teacher at a public school in Barangay Tisa that a man named Joselito Dela Cerna Paras claiming to be a student of USJ-R  solicited money from her supposedly to support his nursing education at the university.

Lawyer Jesus Velez, the director of USJ-R’s Student Affairs Offic, said the teacher sent to him a copy of the identification card (ID) for verification on November 6, 2019.

Velez said the ID was “definitely” fake as the man in the picture was not wearing the school uniform of USJ-R, and his ID did not have a RFID sticker placed at the back to signify the student is currently enrolled in the university.

The guard of the public school tried to intercept the suspect after the teacher was informed that the ID was fake, but the suspect allegedly brought out a swiss knife and threatened the guard.

The suspect was able to escape the guard by jumping the fence. All of these were captured in a closed-circuit television (CCTC=V) camera of the school.

Velez said there have been several other victims of the same individual who have posted on social media that they have also fallen for modus of the suspect.

They said that the suspect allegedly borrowed money from them and left his ID or an official receipt of his motorcycle to the lender with a promise that he will return the money, which he never did. 

Velez urged the public to not give their money to an individual going around using a USJ-R student ID before verifying his identity. 

He also clarified that the name used by suspect, “Christian Castro” and “Philip Arabejo,” are actual students of the university but are not involved in any extortion scheme.

“We want everyone to know that this person, Joselito Dela Cerna Paras, is not a student of USJ-R and is not affiliated with the university in any way,” said Velez.

The university management plans to meet with its board of directors to discuss the filing of charges against Paras.

Velez said they want to file charges in order to apprehend the suspect as soon as possible. /elb