Manila prosecutor sacked for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from government service of a Manila prosecutor who allegedly asked money from a lawyer in exchange for a favorable resolution in his client’s case.

Assistant city prosecutor Pedro Salanga, who was caught in an entrapment operation receiving bribe money from a litigant with a pending case before his office eight years ago, was also stripped of his retirement benefits.

The anti-graft agency, in an 18-page ruling, also cancelled Salanga’s civil service eligibility and disqualified him from re-employment in government service.

The case against Salanga stemmed from a complaint filed by lawyer Joel Ferrer who was handling a case of a certain Cherry Anne Marie Eclarino.

Ferrer said Salanga sent him a text message asking him to call and when he did, the prosecutor allegedly demanded P5,000 in exchange for a favorable resolution.

Ferrer then sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation, which laid out an entrapment on March 13, 2002 at a coffee shop in Manila.

Salanga was caught in the act of receiving the marked money consisting of two P1,000 bills.

Salanga denied demanding money from Ferrer, but Ombudsman probers said his denial was not supported by substantial evidence to overthrow the credibility of the documents presented to support the allegations against him.

Salanga was criminally charged before the Sandiganbayan and was found guilty of bribery last year and sentenced to a maximum of three years and six months in jail.