3 cops face complaint for extortion

CEBU, Philippines – Three policemen are now in hot water after a complaint was lodged against them for allegedly extorting money from truck drivers in Barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla, Cebu Wednesday night.

Ruben Rosell, 22, went to the Cebu Provincial Police Office to report about three policemen who allegedly asked P1,000 from them since the driver of their wing van allegedly was not wearing shoes while driving.

However, Rosell could only identified one of the three cops through a name plate which showed the family name Masangkay.

Rosell, who helps in their family business of Trucking Services, said he went with the driver of their wing van truck last Wednesday to Argao to deliver to-wer parts for a company in Negros Oriental.

He said when they reached Barangay Tungkop,  Minglanilla, they were flagged down by policemen on a mobile patrol car, so they pulled over. Other truck drivers were also asked to stop.

He said only two policemen confronted them and the other one was just lying inside the patrol car.

When they asked what their violation was, Rosell said the policemen allegedly did not tell them anything and just took their driver’s license and demanded for P1,000.

Knowing the law, Rosell said he asked for the Temporary Operating Permit so that they would just pay for their fines at the Land Transportation Office. However, the policemen allegedly insisted for the money.

Since they were in a hurry, Rosell said they asked the policemen if they could only give P500, which the cops allegedly accepted.

“Nibayad na lang gyud mi kay nagdali man mi. Ang katong uban, na-hold gyud to sila,” said Rosell.

He said after giving the P500, it was when that the policemen told them that the driver was not wearing shoes while driving.

Rosell said they immediately called the Minglanilla Police Station to confirm if they have a police member named Masangkay, although they opted not to inform the station about the incident. They found out that the station had a cop named Senior Police Offi-cer 1 Renato Masangkay.

Police Officer 3 Norman Años, CPPO chief investigator, said as of yesterday, they still need to determine the specific case to file against the policemen but will probably be administrative and criminal charges.

He said they have yet to trace the other two policemen, who were allegedly with Masangkay during the said incident.

Años said they will let Rosell submit his complaint affidavit, as well as the accused policemen for their counter affidavit.

However, Rosell said yesterday, out of pity, he is still undecided if he will file a case against the policemen.

He said his main purpose of coming forward is to report the incident so that the same incident won’t happen again.

“Ang ako lang ba nga di na to nila usbon buhata. Kay di baya lalim mangita og kuwarta unya nagti-narong baya mi,” said Rosell. — Ma. Fatima R. Secuya/ATO (FREEMAN)