By Non Alquitran (The Philippine Star) Updated December 24, 2010
MANILA, Philippines – National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Nicanor Bartolome has put 10 police officers under investigation for allegedly arresting a Chinese couple and their companion and then demanding P10 million for their release – a method of extortion called “hulidap.”
Bartolome vowed to severely punish the 10 police officers, five of them high-ranking officials, should evidence prove their guilt.
An NCRPO official who requested anonymity said Bartolome wants to punish these 10 police officers “so others would not emulate their bad example.”
The NCRPO is keeping the identity of the Chinese couple and their companion a secret so as not to jeopardize ongoing efforts to gather evidence against the 10 policemen.
The STAR learned that one of the policemen, a certain Macario, led a team who arrested the Chinese couple and a Filipino friend in Sta. Rosa, Laguna recently on drug charges.
The arresting officers being on floating status, they cannot file charges against the couple and their friend themselves. Macario’s superior officer reportedly brought the Chinese couple and their companion to the Taguig City police, where the chief of the anti-drug unit had been his classmate at the Philippine National Police Academy.
The Taguig City police submitted a report claiming that the Chinese couple and their friend were arrested along C-5, which is still under the jurisdiction of the city. The police official who signed the pre-operation report was also on official leave, an NCRPO official said.
According to initial reports reaching Bartolome, the Chinese couple and their friend were released “for further investigation” after they coughed up P10 million.
The chief of the anti-drug unit of the Taguig City police force was relieved last week to prevent him from conducting anti-drug operations while the case against him is still under investigation.
The Southern Police District, however, submitted a report to the NCRPO, insisting that the arrest of the Chinese couple and their friend was part of a normal police operation.
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