QC cops in hot water for alleged extortion, but was it?

Eight policemen from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Batasan Police Station (PS-6) are in hot water for their alleged involvement in robbery-extortion activities and grave threat.

This was after a 44-year-old man filed a complaint against the policemen before the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) in Camp Karingal for allegedly extorting from him last Saturday afternoon.

One of the policemen was identified as Police Officer 2 (PO2) Franklin Menor, who is assigned at the Batasan Police Station 6.

Based on the complaint by victim Armando Velasco, a native of Nueva Ecija and a resident of Barangka Itaas, Mandaluyong City, the alleged robbery-extortion activity took place at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday outside of Tropical Hut inside Farmers Cubao, Quezon City.

The victim alleged that he and other members of his group were meeting inside Tropical Hut to invite people to invest with their business.

It was at that point that Menor and seven cohorts, believed to be policemen, allegedly called the complainant to come out from the fast-food restaurant to come to their QCPD patrol car parked outside.

Once outside, the victim was allegedly forced by the suspect to shell out

because the policeman said his business was illegal. The amount was later reduced to

After the suspects allegedly received the money, they immediately left the place.

The complainant, according to a blotter report, was also allegedly threatened through text messages to “place everything in place so his life will not be ruined.”

But Supt. Roberto Sales, Batasan Police Station 6 station commander, maintained that, based on their initial investigation, the cash that Menor allegedly demanded from the victim was the money he allegedly invested in a pyramiding scheme that the complainant ran.

“Allegedly, nag member din ang mga pulis doon sa pyramiding at gusto raw niya bawiin ang pera nila ulit dahil illegal nga daw ang negosyo,” Sales told TEMPO/Manila Bulletin in an interview.

“Pinag-rereport na namin iyung pulis (Menor) para maibigay niya ang side niya. Posible rin siya maharap sa kasong administratibo,” he added.

Sales added that efforts were being made to identify the other policemen allegedly involved in the incident.