The Philippines Embassy has issued a warning to guard against a man who is trying to elicit money by claiming to be the illegitimate son of the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos. The 60-year-old man, whose name really is Angel Ferdinand Marcos, has already squeezed money out of several Filipinos in Abu Dhabi.

Ambassador Amable Aguiluz said the embassy has received numerous complaints from Filipinos who have fallen prey to the conman. "We are planning serious action against this conman who has been exploiting innocent Filipinos," he said. "The embassy has received numerous complaints against this man.

An investigation has revealed Angel to be a smooth operator. His cunning is quite subtle so as to avoid getting caught. "He targets the working class and plays on their sentiments for the Marcos clan by narrating incidents in the life of our late president. His latest victim was a Filipina nurse who blindly agreed to be his bank guarantor to help him secure a personal loan. There are other similar cases.

"It took us some time to track Angel's whereabouts. The guy has so much self-confidence that he even tried to sell his false identification to embassy officials. The embassy has warned him to stop fleecing innocent Filipinos and leave the country. I fail to understand how educated people can buy his stories and then come complaining to the embassy," he said.

Aguiluz said an investigation into Angel's background revealed that he has a criminal record.

"This man is in no way biologically related to the late president. A report from the National Investigation Bureau in Manila shows that this guy, who claims to be the illegitimate son of Ferdinand Marcos, is a conman with a lengthy criminal record.

"To avoid any further problems we have asked our Foreign Department in Manila to cancel his passport. Necessary assistance will also be taken with the support of the UAE Ministry of Interior to get Angel deported and handed over to the authorities in Manila.

"He is a wanted man, not only in the Philippines, but in many other countries," the ambassador said.