Five Manila cops ordered dismissed

Metro police chief Director Reynaldo Varilla has ordered the dismissal of a Manila police official and four of his men for allegedly extorting P1.7 million from three people they abducted in Las Piñas several months ago.

Dismissed were Senior Inspector Wilfredo Abordo, PO1 Marvin Magpayo, PO1 Sierona Prudente, PO1 Marvin Cereno and PO1 Ferdinand Baltazar, all formerly assigned at the Manila Police District’s (MPD) Station 8. They were members of the station’s anti-narcotics unit.

The new dismissals raised to 73 the number of rogue policemen booted out by Varilla since he assumed command of the National Capital Region Police Office last August.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., head of the NCRPO’s Regional Investigation and Detective Management (RIDM) said Abordo and another policeman, Police Officer 1 Jully Aliangan, are facing another investigation for allegedly selling stolen mobile phones in Sta. Cruz, Manila. They were arrested on July 29 by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Records showed that businessman Jose Amado Manansala and a companion, David Jamias were about to order food at a burger stand at SM South Mall in Las Piñas City on June 5 when at least seven armed men approached them.

Three of the suspects handcuffed and forced Manansala inside a Toyota Commuter van. According to the victim, the suspects asked him of the whereabouts of his friend, Benito Chua, in exchange for his release.

When he refused, Abordo and his men brought Manansala to the Station 8 headquarters and detained him.

The following day, Chua was on board his Toyota Revo when a Honda Civic and a Mitsubishi Adventure blocked his path along Naga Road in Las Piñas City.

Three armed men disembarked from the Adventure and boarded Chua’s vehicle. One of them took over the wheel and drove towards Roxas Boulevard.

They stopped at the Philippine International Convention Center where the gunmen confronted and accused Chua of being a drug trafficker. The suspects initially demanded P50 million and two cars as ransom.

Chua called his mother, Cu Siok King, who along with Chua’s sister, Cathy Chua Lee, later negotiated and managed to bring the ransom down to P1.7 million the next day.

The money was handed to Magpayo somewhere along Quirino Avenue later in the day. Chua and Manansala were released about 20 minutes after the exchange.

The following day, Chua and Manansala reported the incident to the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) in Camp Crame. Abordo and Prudente were arrested last July 29 as they were about to board Chua’s Toyota Revo, which was parked outside the AIDSOTF’s Camp Crame headquarters.

A Toyota Altis sedan owned by Chua’s nephew, Wu Gu Jiang, was later found parked beside a barangay hall in Felix St., Sta. Ana, Manila.

Police originally filed kidnapping and car theft charges against Abordo and his men before the Department of Justice (DOJ). The charges were later downgraded to robbery-extortion.

Station 8 chief Superintendent Efren Perez and another cop SPO1 Virgilio Mendoza were among those charged but they were cleared later by the DOJ.

Rojas stressed that the five Manila policemen have never disputed the robbery extortion charges hurled against them during hearings of the administrative case against them.— Non Alquitran