A supposed police report that has been making the rounds on social media on the death of Rustan’s heir Paolo Tantoco had been altered, Malacañang said yesterday, citing a communication from the Beverly Hills Police Department (BHPD).

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, California, coordinated with the BHPD to verify a report that had gone viral in the past few days.

Castro said the BHPD identified terms in the purported report as not consistent with the standard language and protocol of the police department.

“The BHPD would not include terms such as ‘expected to be drug overdosed,’ ‘suspected to be cocaine,’ and ‘summoned to BHPD,’” Castro said, quoting from the BHPD letter to the Philippine consulate.

The BHPD described the report on Tantoco’s death as “altered,” the Palace said.

Strange terms

“The altered letter contained terms that were not in line with the Beverly Hills Police standard language and protocol,” Castro pointed out.

Earlier, Castro had slammed “obstructionists” for linking Tantoco’s death to First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.

Tantoco was the husband of Dina Arroyo-Tantoco who is the First Lady’s deputy social secretary. He passed away on 8 March in Los Angeles at the age of 44.

At the time, Mrs. Marcos was in Los Angeles to promote the Manila International Film Festival. She attended a concert celebrating the event’s success at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Romando Artes and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco were with her.