A police corporal and four traffic enforcers were arrested for allegedly extorting over P800,000 from truck drivers who were passing through a checkpoint in Apalit, Pampanga early Friday, June 4, the Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed.
PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar identified the suspects as P/Cpl. Leomar Calegan, 37, of Barangay Maimpis, San Fernando City, Pampanga; and his alleged cohorts Marlon De Guzman, 39; Menard Mendoza, 32; Michael Maniulit, 50; and Noel Manarang, 23.
The latter four are all members of the Truck Ban Traffic Management Office in Apalit town.
Elements of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) caught the suspects during an entrapment operation in front of a gas station along the intersection of Quezon Road McArthur Highway and San Simon Exit in Apalit.
Brig. Gen. Thomas Frias, PNP-IMEG director, said the suspects were collared after they received the marked money from a driver of a passing truck where an undercover agent posed as a porter.
The PNP-IMEG confiscated from the suspects a PNP ID, various identification cards from the traffic enforcers, a caliber 9mm pistol, a Glock 17 pistol, and various magazines and ammunition.
Also recovered from the suspects were cash amounting to P804,170, which was believed to be the total amount that the suspects collected through extortion; and the two pieces of P500 bills that were used as the marked money during the entrapment.
Eleazar urged the public to report rogue cops to the PNP so they may be punished for their illegal acts.
"We know the public deserves a clean and disciplined police and we remain on our toes to keep cleaning our ranks under the PNP Intensified Cleanliness Policy. But we can only do this with the support of the community at large," he said.
The suspects were brought at the local field unit of IMEG in Pampanga for documentation and proper disposition.
They will be charged with robbery-extortion, violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and RA 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Government Employee.