NCRPO catches first ‘kotong’ cop

An abusive policeman assigned at Camp Crame became the first casualty of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) intensified campaign against kotong (abusive) cops.

NCRPO chief Director Ricardo de Leon yesterday presented to the media PO1 Ali Botal, as he warned Metro Manila policemen that his campaign against abusive cops is a continuing process.

"We are dead serious in our effort to cleanse our ranks of undesirables," De Leon told mediamen at the NCRPO satellite office in Kamuning, Quezon City. "The arrest of Botal showed that we mean business."

In his report to De Leon, Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble, director of the Southern Police District (SPD) said Botal and his two companions apprehended three bettors of sakla, a Spanish card game, during an anti-gambling operation in Pasay City the other day.

They allegedly confiscated P6,400 in cash from the three bettors. However, instead of turning them over to the local police station, Botal and his companions brought them to a residential house in Parañaque City and demanded P4,000 for their immediate release.

Relatives of the victims sought the assistance of Superintendent Jose Gentiles, SPD intelligence chief, and an entrapment operation was set up at a fastfood chain along EDSA Rotunda in Pasay City.

Gentiles and his men pounced on civilian Cesar Brioso, 45, of 62 Sarhento Mariano St. Pasay City, after he received the marked money from the bettors’ relatives.

The police team proceeded to Parañaque, arrested Botal and rescued the three bettors identified as brothers Renato and Rafael Pamplona and Aileen Batisan, 37.

Botal yielded a .45 caliber automatic pistol and a magazine loaded with six live bullets. His third companion, PO2 Arnel Albon, escaped with the loot.

Both Botal and Brioso choose to remain silent during the media presentation yesterday. De Leon said they were charged with robbery-extortion, arbitrary detention and violation of the Comelec gun ban. — With Evelyn Macairan