Radio reporter nabbed for extortion

Iligan City — A radio reporter was nabbed by the police after receiving money from a video karera operator here yesterday morning.

Philippine National Police (PNP) director Senior Superintendent Rogelio Nuneza said that Joe Pantoja Jr., a program director of Love Radio station here was collecting the weekly "protection" money amounting to some P 10,000 from an alleged video karera operator in a restaurant when police operatives pounced on him.

Earlier, the complainant, identified as a certain Tata Fuentes of Barangay Saray, asked for police assistance to entrap Pantoja, who has been allegedly collecting protection money for sometime now.

But Pantoja said that the complainant has a contract for sponsorship in his radio program. He said that the money he received was for the payment of the sponsorship of the radio program and not extorted from the complainant.

The money was recovered from Pantoja’s possession and appropriate charges are being readied against him.

Police investigators here are also looking into the possiblity that some policemen might be on the take from video karera and other gambling operators, Nuneza said.