Corrupt Caloocan cop probed

The chief of the Northern Police District-Traffic Enforcement Group (NPD-TEG) ordered an investigation of one of his own traffic officers for alleged extortion of Caloocan City drivers.

Superintendent Panfilo Fernandez, NPD-TEG chief, told The STAR that he personally instructed Superintendent Victor Ronquillo, the immediate superior of SPO4 Edgardo Bustamante, to conduct an investigation on the latter’s reported extortion activities.

"I’ve instructed Colonel Ronquillo to investigate the reported illegal activities of Bustamante. And if proven guilty, I’ll have him relieved from his post including his commander," Fernandez said.

A document obtained by this writer alleged that Bustamante’s modus operandi is to apprehend motorists and let them settle for monetary consideration."

It added the cop "had been extorting and collecting money" from the drivers "sometime ago" but his victims were hesitant to file a formal complaint against him "for fear of being harassed."

Bustamante’s alleged victims are FX taxi drivers who illegally park in front of Gotesco Grand Central Mall right below the LRT station and jeepney drivers plying the Caloocan City Hall and A. Mabini routes.

A "discreet validation and investigation" regarding Bustamante’s alleged extortion activities, the document said, was done on the behest of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) and NPD director Senior Superintendent Jose Marlowe Pedregosa.

Ronquillo, on the other hand, said a formal complaint should first be lodged against the traffic officer before any investigation can be conducted.

He urged the drivers to "come out in the open and formally charge Bustamante so that he could answer their accusations in the proper forum." –Pete Laude