Pasay police unit disbanded for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - The Pasay City police’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) was disbanded yesterday following complaints of rampant extortion and other “money-making schemes.”

City police chief Senior Superintendent Michel Filart recommended the transfer of all 18 SOU members, including SOU chief Senior Inspector Bong Sta. Teresa, to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) under its “Balik sa Kampo” program. The SOU is composed of three officials and 15 enlisted personnel.

Their transfer is meant to prevent them from “influencing” an in-depth investigation of their alleged illegal activities, Filart said.

“These police officers are supposed to be the protectors of the people but in this case, it is apparent that they themselves are the criminals,” he said.

Filart said that he has a dossier of the violations that the SOU members were proven to have committed, such as “planting of evidence with the intention of mulcting money from innocent persons” and extorting money from foreigners.

Suspicious case

The illegal activities of the SOU members came to light following the arrest of Vincent Husay for illegal possession of a deadly weapon along Gil Puyat Avenue last Oct. 3.

Police Officers 1 Julius Malindog and Edward Santos, in their affidavit of arrest, claimed Husay ran toward Taft Avenue after they accosted him for the jungle knife protruding from his right back pocket.

Husay and his knife were turned over to the custody of the Station’s Anti-Illegal Drugs and Special Operations Task Group.

A day later, the SOU requested custody of Husay upon Sta. Teresa’s instructions.

Husay was released at 4 p.m. that day “under highly suspicious circumstances without the filing of the necessary inquest case which is clearly a violation of police operational procedure,” Filart said.

According to Filart, Husay’s case is only one of the many reports of dubious activities by the SOU.