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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Extortion started last year
The alleged extortion by two suspected rebels reportedly began last year yet.
In September 2005, Taiheiyo Cement Phils. Inc. general manager Toshio Komatsu received his first letter from the National Democratic Front Central Visayas Regional Council, inviting him to meet the liaison officer to discuss how they plan to give their contributions to the party.
A Tranquilito del Mundo signed the letter.
It was not until December that year that Komatsu sent a representative to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7.
On Dec. 15, 2005, a representative of Solid Earth Development Corp., which is a sister company of Taiheiyo Cement, went to Chief Insp. Rex Derilo and lodged a complaint.
Taiheiyo Cement is based in San Fernando town in southern Cebu.
Derilo coordinated with their intelligence counterparts to check del Mundo’s identity. They later confirmed that the latter was authentic and that del Mundo’s real name is Ramon Patriacra.
Tax
The representative said that a man identifying himself as Mark kept on calling sometime in January this year to follow up on the letter. Mark allegedly threatened him and his family if he did not convince the company to shell out P3 million as initial payment for revolutionary tax.
By February, the representative sensed that the calls were serious and not just pranks. This prompted the representative to negotiate, requesting to lower the amount, which he was allowed to disburse without the needed approval of his superiors.
“I told Mark that if the purpose of their cause is to help the poor, we did already our part because the company has been extending community service. Eventually Mark agreed to lower the amount to P250,000,” his affidavit read.
He and another manager paid the amount during the first week of March at the South Central Market in Talisay City.
Another transaction occurred in June, when the two managers met up with Mark at a hospital on Ramos St., Cebu City and handed over a laptop worth P50,000.
Though Mark had asked for two laptops, the managers told him they could only give him one.
But if it is proven that companies are “openly supporting enemies of the state,” Major Gen. Cardozo Luna, commanding general of the Central Command, warned they could also face separate charges.
In a news conference yesterday, Luna said those who are regularly giving in to the demands of rebels are not “under duress anymore.”
For his part, CIDG Regional Officer Jose Jorge Corpuz said the arrest of two suspected rebels was their answer to the call of Akbayan party-list Rep. Loretta Rosales, who bared the extortion activities of the communist movement.
Police Regional Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. said the Arroyo administration’s and the Capitol’s declaration of an all-out war against insurgency has “reinvigorated the fight” against communist rebels.
“This came at a time when our PNP Chief Oscar Calderon directed all police units to closely coordinate with the AFP and the LGUs to cut off the financial and supply system of the communist terrorists,” Alarcio yesterday.
Gwen’s call
For her part, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia called on companies, including the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, not to condone the extortion activities of terrorists.
“This is now your chance to put a stop to it. As governor, I have requested the PNP and AFP to provide full protection to companies. I’m asking you to immediately report and cooperate with the provincial anti-insurgency task force,” the governor said.
Alarcio has organized 21 personnel from the Regional Mobile Group under Senior Insp. Rene Kyamko to provide round the clock security to the premises, management and other interests of Taiheiyo Cement.
Last Aug. 30, Taiheiyo representatives returned to the CIDG 7 and showed another demand letter addressed to Komatsu demanding a laptop computer with specifications such as Pentium 4, 512 MB Ram and not more than 12-inches in width.
The Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) sent Derilo detailed information of the pay-off that afternoon, prompting them to arrange an entrapment last Friday.
On Friday morning, Derilo called for a briefing with representatives of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division and ISAFP, which provided area covert security in the South Central Market in Talisay.
Derilo left his office with operatives SPO3 Edmund Junco, SPO2 Delfin Bontuyan, PO3 Roel Leyson and PO2 Eriberto Dacalos at noon and positioned themselves within the vicinity of the market.
At 4:25 p.m., they noticed the two company representatives talking with two other men. They saw one of the representatives hand over a black bag to Lavadia.
The operatives immediately surrounded them, identified themselves as police officers and declared them under arrest.
The two reportedly resisted, “forcing us to use reasonable force to subdue them and finally, were able to handcuff them.”
In their joint affidavit, Derilo and his men said they recovered from Gerald Lavadia a loaded Colt Mk IV .45 pistol, a black bag and a fragmentation grenade.
The bag reportedly contained the P250,000 cash in P1,000 bills, a brand new laptop, two cellular phones, a black wallet belonging to Ka Renard containing P5,960, a membership card of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines in the name of Renard Castelo, a membership card of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines bearing the name of Juan Miguel Saycon, a piece of paper containing a handwritten casing and surveillance report on the 78th Infantry Battalion, a passenger ticket from Nasipit to Cebu for Saycon and a passenger receipt from Cagayan de Oro to Cebu for Castelo.
Cases of illegal possession of explosives in relation to rebellion and anti-subversion act and robbery extortion were filed against them yesterday. (MEA/Malou Inocando-Tabar, Correspondent)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 5, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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