Balayan deputy chief of police arrested for extortion case

THE Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) arrested on Thursday an active deputy chief of police from the Balayan Municipal Police Station over an extortion case lodged against the latter.

PNP-IMEG acting director BGen. Warren de Leon identified the suspect as Cpt. Ruben Marilag, who reportedly demanded and extorted money to serve as weekly payola of P2,000 from a resident whom he accused of illegally operating the illegal numbers game “loteng.”

According to the police, the suspect was arrested during an entrapment operation in front of a bank near the police station.

He was nabbed by members of the Team 4A, IMEG Luzon Field Unit, 35th Special Action Company, PNP Special Action Force, Balayan Municipal Police Station, and Provincial Intelligence Unit, Batangas Police Provincial Office.

“The operation stemmed from a complaint lodged against him (Marilag) for coercing and intimidating the complainant/victim into paying a weekly payola for the victim’s loteng operation. Accordingly, the said loteng operation had already been stopped since March of 2021 when the victim was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. Despite this, the suspect insists that the victim must pay for his weekly payola amounting to P2,000,” de Leon said.

Among those recovered from the suspect were the boodle money, the suspect’s service firearm with a magazine containing 14 live ammunition, an inside holster, smartphones, a cap with artificial hair, a wallet containing cash, and the suspect’s PNP identification card.

He is currently detained at the IMEG Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City for investigation and proper disposition.

Marilag is the fifth active PNP personnel and the second police official arrested by PNP-IMEG in an entrapment operation since de Leon was designated as acting director of IMEG on August 8.