Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri commended the Philippine National Police (PNP) for arresting two men who allegedly tried to extort from him in an entrapment operation in San Pablo, Castillejos, Zambales last week.
Zubiri made the statement during a press conference he held at the Senate bullding with ranking PNP officials seated beside him.
Colonel Hansel Marantan, PNP Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG)-NCR chief, said this type of criminal activity is not new, as extortionist also tried to victimize then-presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and then-Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte during the recent election campaign.
‘’We were to able to arrest them. Sabi ni Senate President we have to be aggressive,’’ he added.
Other senators have also been approached by other groups using the same modus operandi, Zubiri said.
Zubiri said that two men from the group sought from him a fifinancial donation for a political convention by posing as Governor Jec Jec Villa of Siquijor province and Board Member Abner Lomongo.
Manantan said other groups have already amassed millions of pesos using this nefarious scheme.
Because of this, Zubiri said he would ask his colleagues to refile and pass a bill that would require the registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
Detectives of CIDG-NCR (National Capital Region) and Southern District Field Unit along with the Castillejos Police Station, Zambales Provincial Police Office (PPO), and representatives of the office of the Senate President launched an entrapment operation against a group of extortionists at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2022 in PrK5 Villa Garcia, San Pablo, Castillejos Zambales.
The police operation resulted in the apprehension of Bryan Reyes Ledesma, a 23-year-old online seller and Danilo Guillermo Ledesma, alias Danilo L, a 46-year-old farmer. The following pieces of evidence were also confiscated:
• Marked money placed on top of boodle money,
• Mobile phone inserted with SIM card (used to transact with the victim), and
• Identification cards of the arrested suspects.
Authorities also recovered from the possession of Danilo Ledesma an Armscor caliber .45 pistol with magazine and seven rounds of ammunition, a black sling bag, and a mobile phone.
Police Brig. General Ronald Lee said that the police operation stemmed from the assistance sought by Zubiri regarding a series of messages from a group of people posing as Governor Jec Jec Villa of Siquijor and Board Member Abner Lomongo.
Zubiri said he sensed that such political convention was a scheme and that the persons who spoke to him were ‘’bogus’’ since the suspects were continuously demanding a sum of cash amounting to P50,000.
The suspects agreed to personally meet Zubiri’s staff in Zambales. At that instance, Zubiri, through his representative, sought the assistance of the PNP. The CIDG-NCR was tasked to investigate and conduct police operation.