Cop in EDSA ‘hulidap’ surrenders

MANILA, Philippines - A police officer linked to the controversial EDSA “hulidap” yesterday turned himself in to authorities and denied participation in the crime.

Senior Inspector Allan Emlano, 39, whose last assignment was with the Caloocan City police, surfaced at the Quezon City Police District Station 1 in La Loma at around 5 a.m.

He said he surrendered to clear his name.

He has been marked AWOL (absent without official leave) from the Northern Police District (NPD) since January 2013.

Chief Inspector Benjamin Gabriel escorted Emlano to Camp Karingal where he met QCPD director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano.

Emlano denied knowing Police Officer 2 Jonathan Rodriguez, who had tagged him in the hulidap following his arrest Monday.

According to Rodriguez, it was Emlano who commandeered and drove the white Toyota Fortuner of victims Samanodin Abdulgafur and Camal Mama, employees of a contractor based in Lanao del Sur, along EDSA on Sept. 1.

But Emlano claimed he does not even know how to drive.

He said he was in Malabon working on his reinstatement with the NPD on the day the alleged kidnapping and highway robbery occurred. But he admitted going to the QCPD Station 1 occasionally to chat with his colleagues.

The surrender of Emlano brought to three the number of suspects involved in the EDSA hulidap in the custody of the police.

Earlier, Rodriguez and Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, deputy commander of QCPD Station 1, were arrested by elements of Task Force WackWack.

Police have so far tagged 12 suspects in the controversial heist, including active, dismissed and AWOL officers.

Still at large are Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva, QCPD’s investigation chief; Police Officers 2 Mark de Paz, Ebonn Decatoria, Jerome Datinguinoo and Weavin Masa; Senior Police Officer 1 Ramil Hachero, and dismissed Inspector Marco Polo Estrera.

All suspects are members of the La Loma police station, save for Rodriguez, who belongs to the QCPD’s public safety battalion. Estrera had been dismissed from the police service in 2006.

Emlano, De Vera, Villanueva and Estrera belong to the Philippine National Police Academy Class of 2001.

Emlano will be reassigned to the National Capital Region Police Office’s administrative holding unit at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, NCRPO chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said.

“He will be on a restricted status – meaning he cannot leave the NCRPO camp, to prevent him from influencing the investigation of the case,” Valmoria said in an interview.

De Vera and Rodriguez are detained at the Mandaluyong City police.

Valmoria said the investigation is not limited to the 10 policemen tagged in the crime.

The suspects have been charged with brigandage, kidnapping and serious illegal detention with the Mandaluyong City prosecutor’s office.

‘P2 M not drug money’

An engineer who owns a construction company in Lanao del Sur said yesterday that the P2.1 million taken by the policemen from Abdulgafur and Mama is not drug money.

Cariyong Hadjimalic, 52, told police that he withdrew the money from his BDO account in Cagayan de Oro branch supposedly to pay for a transit mixer at an auction in Subic.

Hadjimalic said he gave the money on Aug. 28 to Abdulgafur, who left Lanao del Sur on a plane.

He said he called up Abdulgafur on Sept. 1, instructing him to pick up Mama in Baclaran, Parañaque and accompany him to Subic.

Abdulgafur and Mama were on their way to Subic when armed men blocked their path along EDSA in Mandaluyong City.

Police have yet to recover the P2.1 million.

Who is Amira Salic?

Amira Salic was allegedly the woman who called up Abdulgafur on Sept. 1, prompting him and Mama to divert from their itinerary.

Her name cropped up in the affidavit of Abdulgafur, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

He said Salic called him up and asked to meet her at SM North EDSA in Quezon City.

It was during the unexpected meeting that the woman found out that they were carrying P2.1 million.

Abdulgafur said Salic was a former neighbor in Marawi. He did not know how she managed to get his cell phone number.

Background check

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday it was checking the records of the police officers tagged in the kidnapping and robbery on EDSA to find out if they were involved in other criminal activities in the past.

Eastern Police District director Chief Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta told a hearing of the House committee on public order and safety that the background check was part of the PNP’s effort to rid the police force of scalawags.

He said they are hunting down the other suspects, including two civilians.

“We are waiting for the warrants of arrest to be issued by the court,” Villacorta told lawmakers.

“The thrust of our research now is on the background of these people,” he said.

Villacorta said one of the suspects, who remains at large, was reportedly involved in a kidnapping incident wherein he got P12 million from the victim.

He said records indicated that the suspects were involved in other shakedown operations through fake drug busts.

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, meanwhile, asked officials of the PNP and the National Police Commission to tighten rules on the reassignment of officers and non-commissioned officers.  – With Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe