Victims identify Manila ‘hulidap’ cop

MANILA, Philippines - A calamansi retailer and the drivers of a jeepney operator identified yesterday the policeman who allegedly arrested and robbed them.

Police Officer 1 Eduardo Salamat was identified by calamansi retailer Roger Bagui and his friend, Macario Albao, from among the photos of police officers at the Manila Police District (MPD), according to PO3 Bernardo Cayabyab.

Bagui, 25, said that a policeman surnamed “Salamat or David” arrested him for no reason, forced him to ride a pedicab at gunpoint, took his belt bag containing P152,000 and told him to “just follow him” to MPD Station 2. He said the policeman, whom he recognized as the one allegedly extorting money from vendors in Divisoria, did not appear at the police station.

Bagui’s allegation is known in Filipino slang as “hulidap.”

Four drivers of jeepney operator Eric Castillo identified the same policeman as the one who allegedly barged into their employer’s garage last Feb. 24 and, at gunpoint, took the money remitted by Castillo’s drivers.

Salamat, formerly assigned at the MPD Station 3, was transferred in 2009 to the Regional Police Holding and Administrative Unit at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, Cayabyab said.

The MPD’s General Assignment Section is still trying to find out Salamat’s current assignment.