3 cops in Edsa extort case plead not guilty
August 5, 2015 | 12:53am
MANILA, Philippines - Three police officers, implicated in the alleged extortion and kidnapping incident along Edsa September last year, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday on the criminal charges before a Mandaluyong City court.
Chief Inspector Joseph De Vera, Senior Inspector Allan Dolores Emilano, and PO2 Jonathan Rodriguez all pleaded not guilty on charges of car theft, kidnapping and robbery in band during their arraignment at courtroom of Judge Carlos Valenzuela of Regional Trial Court Branch 213.
The arraignment of the three police officers finally pushed through after several postponements.
The three accused, all handcuffed and wearing yellow detainee shirts, were escorted by jail guards during the hearing.
The complainants in the criminal cases, Samanodin Abdul Gafur and Camal Mama, were not present during the arraignment.
Prior to the arraignment, defense counsel Jason Cantil asked the court to postpone the proceeding but the judge ruled that it pushes through.
Cantil decided to file a motion for bail for his clients.
The court also issued a warrant of arrest against the seven other police officers implicated in the case.
Senior Inspectors Marco Polo Estreba and Oliver Villanueva, Senior Police Officer 1 Ramil Hachero, PO2 Eronn Decatora, Weavin Masa, Jerome Datinguinoo, and Mark De Paz remain at large.
The court scheduled the next hearing of the case on September 2.
The 10 police officers were charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention for illegally arresting Abdul Gafur and Mama, extorting P1.2 million from them.
Gafur and Mama said they were on their way to buy heavy equipment in Subic on Sept. 1, 2014.
However, they were snatched on EDSA and brought to the La Loma police precinct, where the policemen took their cash and emptied their bank accounts.
De Vera, the deputy chief of the police precinct, and Rodriguez were arrested after pictures of the incident went viral on social media.
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