EDITORIAL - Cops, lawbreakers

They are not the “pulis patola” that President Aquino wants expunged from the police force, but they are more damaging to the Philippine National Police. These are the PNP members who engage in robbery with extortion and other criminal activities.

Photos taken with a stolen iPad2 and stored in its system will reportedly prove that 18 members of the PNP Regional Police Intelligence and Operating Unit who apprehended 18 Koreans at a house in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa extorted P500,000 from the foreigners and robbed them of pricey smart phones and even female underwear. The original amount demanded, the Koreans alleged, was P3 million.

It’s not the first time that cops have taken an interest in electronic gadgets, and turned to crime to obtain the devices. In 2011, five Makati policemen were accused of forcing a German tourist to buy them six laptops for P222,149 at a popular shopping mall.

This time, the iPad2 taken from the Koreans was allegedly used by the wife of Police Officer 3 Benjie de Villa to take photos of her family members. The photos showed up in the account of one of the Koreans who used it for online stock trading. The Koreans, who were accused of cybercrimes by the police raiding team, showed the photos when they filed a complaint against the apprehending cops.

Many previous cases show that crooked cops tend to pick crime suspects rather than law-abiding citizens for extortion. Such shakedowns compromise law enforcement, allowing criminals to get away. If the police team had a genuine cybercrime case against the Koreans, it was definitely doomed by the complaints of extortion and serious illegal detention. This case illustrates the importance of a continuing purge in the police force, and of improving the vetting system for PNP recruitment. Those who join law enforcement so they can break the law must be quickly weeded out.