It seems that they will never ever learn.
Six policemen and four other persons were separately arrested by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Special Action Force and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force for alleged mulcting in Pasay, Cavite and Quezon City.
Three of the policemen, all detailed with the Traffic Management Group, were arrested right inside Camp Crame.
National Police chief of directorial staff Director Romeo Peña identified the policemen as SPO4 Cresencio Manabat, PO3 Ricardo Enriquez, PO1 Roman Petilo, PO1 Napoleon Zamora, SPO2 Dante Borja and PO2 Sonny Nosida.
Manabat, detailed with the Mobile Patrol Unit of the Pasay City police, was nabbed in San Juan, Pasay City, while receiving P40 in "grease money" from a gambling operator Wednesday night.
On their way to Camp Crame, the agents arrested Enriquez, of the Pasay City police whom they caught collecting P30 from Isidro Tayag, a taxi driver along Buendia street, Pasay City.
Zamora was later arrested while receiving P200 from Russel Atractivo, a jeepney driver along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
Yesterday morning, CIDG agents arrested Petilo, of the TMG Motorcycle Unit inside Camp Crame while collecting marked cash from driver Augusto de Leon in exchange for the return of his driver's license. Under questioning, Petilo identified Borja and Nosida as his alleged cohorts.
Meanwhile, four other persons identified as Vicente Baloncio, Mario Nieto, Francisco Nieto and Reynaldo Amado were also arrested for alleged extortion.
According to the PAOCTF, the suspects were arrested after Dorotea Suansing filed a complaint against the suspects who introduced themselves as members of the Special Project for Economic Affairs of the House of Representatives and threatened that she would not be able to get scrap materials from the Cambridge Electronics Corp. in Dasmariñas, Cavite if she did not shell out P60,000 in `protection' money.
Suansing said that out of fear, she gave the suspects P30,000 last Dec. 23. But she sought police help when the suspects again asked P10,000 from her last Jan. 2.
Seized from the suspects were the P10,000 in marked cash, three tampered SPEA identification cards, three House of Representatives identification cards, an Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau identification card and a Honda CRV van with plate number WDI-602.