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Saturday, November 06, 2004
'DDS' poseur denies extortion charges
By Raquel C. Bagnol
A MAN accused of identifying himself as a member of the Davao Death Squad to extort money from an employee of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) last month entered a not guilty plea when arraigned before the court Friday.
The accused, Emilio Dexter Centillas, entered a not guilty plea to his pending grave threats case before Judge Jesus V. Quitain of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) Branch 15. Quitain set the pre-trial on November 16.
City prosecutor Raul Bendigo earlier sustained the findings of government prosecutor Arlene Palabrica in charging Centillas for grave threats.
Centillas was accused of demanding P60,000 from Teresita dela Peña to have her son's name deleted from the drugs watch list or the list of persons allegedly targeted for liquidation by the DDS.
In her affidavit-complaint, dela Peña said she received a telephone call at around 5 p.m. on September 21 from a man identifying himself as a DDS member.
The caller said her son was on their hit list but his name could be removed from the list in exchange for P60,000.
Dela Peña reported the matter to her husband and they decided to report it to the police.
When the caller rang them up again the next day and demanded money, she told him she would give P5,000 at around 9 p.m. in front of her house.
The police designed an entrapment operation, but the suspect sensed it and did not take the bait.
Last October 4, the complainant said another alleged DDS member identifying himself as Centillas told her he would take the money at 2:30 p.m. that day at a gasoline station on Quezon Boulevard, Davao City.
Dela Peña told Centillas she would give him P30,000, but for the second time, the suspect sensed an entrapment and did not appear at the designated place.
The complainant and the suspect finally agreed to make the pay-off at around 4:45 p.m. on October 5 at Victoria Plaza parking area in Bajada.
The pay-off resulted in the arrest of Centillas, who was with PFC Arnel Macas of the 404th Infantry Brigade.
Recovered from the possession of Macas were unlicensed .45 (Colt) pistol with serial number 591427, a magazine containing 6 live ammunition, a cellular phone, cash amounting to P800, identification card and the marked money.
Also recovered from Centillas was his wallet containing an identification card of the Philippine National Police bearing the name Richard Centillas.
Macas' case is still under preliminary investigation.
(November 6, 2004 issue)
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