A POLICE officer and a traffic enforcer were arrested for extortion on Thursday morning, August 1, in Makati City.
Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) Director Romeo Caramat identified the arrested policeman as Patrolman John Lagao Felix, who is assigned as mobile patroller of Station 2 in Makati City Police Station.
He was arrested along with Traffic Enforcer Jason Parcon after receiving the P600 marked money from the complainant during an entrapment operation along Palm Avenue in Makati City around 5:45 a.m. Thursday.
Caramat said the operation stemmed from the report of a truck operator identified as Silverio Samson, who accused the suspects of demanding P100 for every truck that enters the DasmariƱas Village even when they have the necessary permits.
The suspects are now under the custody of IMEG for further investigation and proper documentation prior to the filing of appropriate charges.
Despite the arrest, Caramat said the number of reports against cops decreased by 70 percent in the month of July.
"Marami pa rin kaming minomonitor na mga kasamahan namin na involved sa extortion at ang ating campaign against illegal drugs ay tinitake advantage pa din. Based sa complaints before were averaging 100 complaints monthly ngayon nagaaverage nalang ng 20," he said.
(We are monitoring several other men who are involved in extortion and taking advantage of our campaign against illegal drugs. We used to receive an average of 100 complaints a month. The number is down to 20.) (SunStar Philippines)