Policemen in EDSA ‘extort’ see dismissal of case

alleged extortion incident along EDSA in Mandaluyong City in against them will be dismissed because the complainants did not show up during hearings.

Judge Carlos Valenzuela of the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 213 on Wednesday suspended the court hearing when Samanodin Abdul Gafur and Camal Mama again snubbed the proceedings.

The complainants were noshows in almost 10 months of hearings.

“The court will wait until the next hearing,” Valenzuela said.

The judge said he will grant the probationary dismissal of the case against Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva, Senior Police Officer 1 Ramil Pachero, Police Officers 2 Ebonn Decadoria and Weavin Masa, Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, Senior Inspector Allan Emlano, Inspector Marco Polo Estrera, and Police Officers 2 Jerome Datinguinoo, Mark de Paz and Jonathan Rodriguez. The police officers pleaded not guilty to the charges of car theft, kidnapping and robbery by a band.

Probationary dismissal allows the accused to go free conditionally. If after two years no one reopens the case against them, the charges will be dropped completely.

The alleged kidnapping and robbery incident became viral after a motorist who snapped a photo of the incident uploaded the image on social media.

The photo showed three ve armed men believed to be the policemen pointed their guns at the cornered SUV.